Justice in a blade

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Inohen spun idly between calloused fingers as Xyon took his break reluctantly. Staring across at the pot of steaming coffee on the table in front of him, the glow from his purple eyes reflected in it's rippling surface, he sighed lightly as the time ticked away.

The guard house was pretty much empty at present, a few other guardsmen dotted about the room, also taking breaks. Polished armour glinted in the firelight, the night shift dragging steadily on.

Another sigh caused the leather under his Marn guard plate armour to creak, as he rested Inohen against the table, and took the cup of coffee up to sip it. Setting it back down a moment later, he began rolling a cigarette from the tin of tobacco also on the table, deftly flicking the paper about with practiced grace until the cylinder was formed and lit in his hand.

Smoke drifted lazily up from the burning tobacco and paper, twisting and dancing in the flickering light from the raging fire in the grate across the room. Drawing heavily on it, he smoked harshly, reflecting his irritation at doing nothing. Finally, after several minutes, he flicked the butt into the fire, some distance away, causing it to burn up in the sheer heat seconds before it hit the flames themselves.

Taking up the coffee again, he checked on the time before letting out another heavy sigh, and proceeding to drink the hot brown liquid, smiling at the pleasant taste. Ten minutes more...

[Thelonius Gant]

Thelonius Gant was not having a good night, he seldom did. He'd been sitting out on a cold stone step nursing an equally cold cup of coffee for the better part of an hour now and suffice to say he was getting impatient. Normally Thelonius would be the first to reflect on the advantages of working the night shift, most notably the fact that if you wanted a quiet night a few selective choices on which areas to patrols could guarantee one, but unfortunately there were significant drawbacks if one actually intended to do some real work. Camping out outside a man's house certainly wasn't the most dignified way to meet someone but since his working hours weren't the most social it was often the only way. Unfortunately this required a great deal of patience and as a rule Gant didn't have a great deal of anything.

He drummed his fingers impatiently on the side of the coffee mug, he didn't have to be here. It wasn't really any of his business, outside his jurisdiction really. A part of him just wanted to head back to the guardhouse and sit around for a few hours more until he could finish up but then another part had committed to this and intended to see it out.
Well for at least another five minutes...

With that in mind you could say it was fate when exactly five minutes later the man Gant was waiting for rounded the corner. However if one did call it fate they may have to ignore the fact that Gant had been saying five minutes more for about a half an hour now.

"Late night, Pliars" said Thelonius as he took a sip of his coffee.

Pliars had stopped dead in the middle of what must have been a very impressive swagger. It would seem he'd had a good night tonight and the idea of concluding it with a chat with a guardsman wasn't overly appealing.

"You know how it is boss..." the man replied with a nervous grin.

"Oh don't I just..." said Gant with grin of his own, his far more confident and infinitely colder than the other mans "Murder up at the old gatehouse, Pliar"

"Nah, nah. Not me boss, you know I play safe." the man responded quickly as he held his arms in the air "Gots nothing at the gate house anwyays"

"If I thought it was you you wouldn't be standing there... lying there maybe, but certainly not standing." said Gant airily as he finished off his coffee “But no, wasn't a robbery and as far as I can tell wasn't even a real murder. Someone just broke an old mans arm and let him bleed out."

"S'tragic and all boss but I don't see-"

"I want a name Pliar."

There was brief silence as Pliar formulated what Thelonius knew would be a very unfortunate answer.

"...well... maybe that's something your mother should a sorted out." said Pliar with the conviction of a man who knows he's saying the wrong thing but is incapable of passing up on a joke.

Thelonius was half way up by the time Pliar started talking and by the time he'd stopped Gant had grabbed his shoulder and dragged him uncomfortably close.

"Look Pliar... either you talk to me now or you don't talk to anyone for a few weeks."

"I don't have a name, Theo." Pliar retorted as he knocked the guardsman's arm aside "If I had one I'd give it to you, murdering giant on the rampage ain't good for business you know."

Thelonius stared at the man for a moment. Pliar was about the same build as Thelonius but he had the distinct disadvantage of not being amour clad and so if it came down to it Thelonius would have a relatively easy time beating the other man to a pulp. Both men knew this but apparently only one of them appreciated this fact

"...murdering... giant" Gant repeated slowly

"Yeah, yeah" said Pliar quickly "Big lumbering yolk! Waltzes’ into town same night as the old guy got did in. Massive he was, big glowing red eyes."

"... Pliar, while I admire the creativity of the lie I have to say-"

"It's the truth Theo!" Pliar retorted with more than a hint of desperation in his voice "He was hanging round with that …what's his name… the alchemist... Beakar? ...yeah something like that. People seen 'em round that night Theo."

For a few moments Gant just stared at the man, trying to gauge whether he was lying, telling the truth or just mad.

"If you're lying I'll be back." said Gant matter of factly "Tell your mum I said thanks for the coffee."

Gant pushed the cup in Pliars chest and without another word he started walking back towards the Guardhouse.

Normally Gant trusted Pliar about as far as he could throw him, which wasn't very far if you didn't count the time he threw him out of a window, but despite the outlandish nature of his story it did make some degree of sense. It was an unlikely story but it was an unlikely crime, one seemingly bereft of any real meaning or purpose. Clearly the old man got in someone’s way and that someone had decided to shatter the man's arm and leave it at that. Somehow in Gant's mind angry giant seemed to fit the bill quite nicely, even if didn't quite fit in with his prior experience of giants

It didn't take Gant long to get back to the guardhouse but he used the scant amount of time available to roll a cigarette. The guardhouse was quiet but far from empty, mainly due to that when Xyon was in a room it always seemed full. Thelonius and Xyon had met a few times now, when you were working the same shift it was hard not to, but he had never really had a conversation with the enormous guardsman. However considering what his oh so reliable contact had told him regarding giants with funny colored eyes Gant deiced that now was a good time to start having conversations.

"Xyon" Gant said with a nod as he took a seat beside the man at the table.

Tact had never really been Gant's forte but even so he recognised the importance of not needlessly antagonizing a man who could snap him in two if he so wished. Almost certainly Xyon wasn't the man responsible for the murder but since Thelonius had no idea who this "Beaker" was the only thing he had to work with was the fact his mystery man was really tall and since Xyon was the tallest man he knew somehow that seemed like a logical place to start. Of course there was other reasoning behind it all but at the end of the day Gant was relying entirely on there being some fraternity of tall men who met up weekly for drinks.

"...so..." said Gant laboriously "...have you ever met someone in the city around your height then Xyon?"

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Time drifted lazily by as he sat there, gods knew how long for. Inohen lay idle at his side, the sword glowing faintly, out of almost boredom.

With meticulous timing, he was about to rise when he saw Thelonius sit down next to him, and start asking questions.

"...so ...have you ever met someone in the city around your height then Xyon?"

He pondered this, with a frown. It had been a while since he'd spoken, so he cleared his throat first, then said "No. I have not. Why do you ask, Theo?"

Taking another swig from his coffee he'd intended to take on patrol with him, he smiled slightly. Theo's mannerisms and attitude seemed to indicate something interesting was about to happen. This, he liked the sound of.

Inohen perked up at Theo's question, too. Something had been bothering the sword, ever since that night in the faerie's cave, when she'd carved a message into solid granite. She tried to get Xyon's attention, but he waved her off with a little <In a minute, Ino, please.>

[Thelonius Gant]

"No. I have not."

It was nothing short of blind optimism to hope for any other answer and yet somehow Gant was disappointed when Xyon replied. Currently he had no leads other than the name of an alchemist and the fact that Xyon hadn't responded with "Oh just one, red-eyed Dan" seemed to hammer that home. It was likely that Gant was chasing a ghost, a giant red-eyed ghost but a ghost none the less. But then again, it was equally possible that there was no giant and Thelonius had become the most gullible person in Marn.

"Why do you ask, Theo?"

"In the vague hope you'd say yes and I'd have a list of possible suspects." Gant shrugged as he took a drag of his cigarette.

Gant leaned back in the chair for a moment and stared at the stained brown ceiling of the guardhouse.

"One of the old gatekeepers was found dead a day or two ago, his arm was broken and he bled out. He was an okay guy, can't for the life of me remember his name but he was a man who could handle his liquor." Said Gant as if this was the greatest compliment he could give a man "At this point they're saying smugglers did it, broke his arm to teach him a lesson or something, but that ain't it Xyon."

Gant straightened up in the chair and attempted to look Xyon into the eye as he spoke but since he didn't really want serious neck trauma he settled for staring at the man's chin.

"Not a blemish on that man other than the arm... odd that, cause I've never known a smuggler to be so subtle in their lesson." Gant continued "Might be nothing but it caught my attention. So tonight did a little digging and courtesy of a completely unrepuatable source I was told that a giant did it, an angry red eyed giant at that."

He sounded crazy. No worse, he sounded stupid. If someone had told Gant what he had just told Xyon they'd be a laughing stock. The nightshift was not a time for murderous giants, it was time for drunks, pickpockets and, if you were lucky, the occasional burglary. Admittedly, Xyon didn't seem like the kind of person to...well... laugh, but even so Gant though now might be the time to stop elaborating on his theory.

"Just thought I'd chance it when I saw you, you being the only representative of the odd coloured eyes giant community I know. Shot in the dark really. " Gant mumbled as sat back in his chair and stared at the coffee pot on the table. "Best bet is probably that alchemist... ah, forget I said anything..."

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

"I was told that a giant did it, an angry red eyed giant at that."

At this, Xyon's mood swung violently. He sat bolt upright in his chair, visibly tenser, and swore. "What?"

Focusing on the sword, he let Inohen a greater division of his attentions, letting her voice fill his head. Sadly, this drowned out whatever Theo said next, but he had to know.

<What is it, Ino?>
<Just as your friend says. The fallen come to Marn.>

His second cigarette burned his fingers, forgotten as it had been, which snapped him back to the real world again. "Shit!" was bellowed across the room from his powerful lungs, as he flung the burning stub into the fire.

He slumped back in his chair, shaking visibly as he sat there now, and said aloud to the sword, "You're wrong. You have to be wrong." Turning to Theo, he tried to listen to what he was being told, but... he struggled to focus, to hear what was said.

"Theo... I'm sorry, I was elsewhere. Please, explain this in more detail. Angry red-eyed giant what?"

[Thelonius Gant]

Thelonius had thought he heard Xyon say something but at that point he was too committed to his embarrassed mumbling to take much notice. Gant didn't particularly want to answer questions on his angry giant theory as after hearing himself say it aloud he realised that it sounded even worse than he thought it would.

At that moment Gant was oblivious to Xyon's sudden change in mood as he had decided to concentrate his attention on the coffee pot in front of him and wish he'd kept he mouth shut. However, Gant didn't remain oblivious for long as a few seconds later he was almost knocked out of his chair by a profanity so loud it rattled the windows.

For a moment Gant stared at Xyon as the man slouched back in his chair and started talking to himself. It was often said that you had to be some bit mad to sign up as a guardsman these days but even so this was a level of madness that Gant found just a little alarming.

"Theo... I'm sorry, I was elsewhere. Please, explain this in more detail. Angry red-eyed giant what?"

"Well if you're going to be like that in future I'd appreciate if you just didn't come back from elsewhere." said Thelonius a shade reproachfully. "...well I can't give you much in the way of detail. If my friend was telling the truth then a giant red eyed man arrived in the city a few days back, murdered the gatekeeper and then met up with some alchemist, Beaker or Baker or something, in the business district of our fair city"

Gant concluded his explanation with a shrug, that was all he knew and he wasn't even sure of any of it.

"So yeah, that's what I know so I think it'd be a good idea to tell me what you know." said Gant as he took a drag of his cigarette "Of course that is assuming you know something and your reaction wasn't due to...well... you being a nutcase or something."

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Despite himself, Xyon found this amusing enough to chuckle a little at Theo's remark. Taking a deep breath, the giant of a man stood slowly, stretching out muscles that hadn't been used in too long with a deep groan, as they protested vehemently about such injustice.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I will try to explain on the way. Follow me."

He snagged Inohen's crossguard with a finger, flicking her into the air seemingly without effort. In fact, this was a front - the flick was actually a signal they'd worked out for communication which did not require such efforts as their mental link.

Inohen soared into the air under her own impetus, sliding neatly into her scabbard with deft ease and utter compliance. Xyon disregarded this, paying her no mind once the command had been issued, and instead did his best to make life difficult for his weapon by leaning over to take up his now much emptier coffee.

Pausing a moment, with a frown on his face, his body cried out for nicotine, as a bribe to recompense it for the stress his mind and memories had subjected it to. With a sigh, he began to roll another cigarette, nodding to Theo and saying, almost apologetically, "We will need to stop off at the canteen on the way. I need another coffee."

[Thelonius Gant]

The second Xyon had tossed his sword into the air Gant scrambled off his chair, certainly not the most dignified thing to do but probably the safest. He'd seen amateur dramatics cost limbs more than a few times and since Gant was quite attached to his limbs, and desired to remain that way, he always choose the better part of valour, which in this case was spinning off the chair and stumbling backwards with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Unfortunately for Gant's pride, but fortunately for Xyon's extremities, the sword slotted almost soundlessly in it's sheath. There was no doubting that the entire event had been impressive but unfortunately Thelonius had been a little busy retreating to truly appreciate it.

"...Xyon, how many cups of coffee have you had tonight?" said Gant warily "I'd like to know cause I suspect if you get another cup you're going to start trying to balance that sword on your nose or something."

It took Gant a few more moments to gather himself, although he spent the majority of this time finishing off his cigarette. It was embarrassing really but for the last few months the most exciting thing to happen to Thelonius was getting a splinter and while a sword trick was hardly sensational it was enough to throw him. Thelonius rarely reacted well to surprises and while smoking wasn't exactly calming him it was something to do. Eventually he finished off the cigarette, dropping the butt to the floor and grinding it under foot, but by then Xyon was already on his way to the canteen.

"Yeah fine, coffee." Gant said as he started walking "Just no more sudden movements, I've had a long night"

Gant neglected to mention he'd had a long night of sitting down humming to himself but that didn't seem worth mentioning. Gant followed Xyon to the canteen, a miserable room even by the standards of the City Guards, and was relatively happy to see that there was no one else there. He didn't particularly want anyone eavesdropping on the upcoming conversation, less out of fear causing panic about an unstoppable killing machine loose in the city than getting some unfortunate nickname about hunting Giants.
Gant was just a little too close to Giant for him to risk it.

"So what do you know anything about our red eyed monster then?" said Thelonius as the poured himself a cup of coffee "You know, assuming he's actually real."

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Xyon grimaced as the question filtered through, glorious brown ichor flowing into the cup as the coffee poured forth into the stained ceramic vessel. He finished pouring before answering, taking his time over it as he prepared a response.

"Let me put it like this. I have purple eyes, and I am Xenetian. From Calhoun. I remember trying to explain my moral code to you a while back, but suffice to say I follow a code of honour.

I know this may sound daft, but anyone of my height and build with glowing red eyes is the same race as me, but a different race, too."

He took a swig of the coffee after this, pausing long enough to gesture toward the door, an indication that he was now ready to leave this hell-hole and set out for pastures bloodier.

"They are fallen Xenetians, or I believe they call themselves "Danteri" these days, after the city they come from. They follow a twisted, evil variant of my code, and they want to kill me for following the code I do." He smiled.

"With me so far?"

[Thelonius Gant]

Gant permitted himself a small smile as he recalled Xyon's rather laboured explanation of his code of honour a few weeks previous. It had all seemed a bit quaint to Thelonius , a little moral rule book telling you how to deal with life, but as nice as it sounded he was pretty certain that if he had "honour" he'd have died quite some time ago. Of course, that wasn't to say Gant didn't have his own code for he followed the one golden rule passed down through generation of Gant men.
Don't be bastard.
...well, unless it's quicker.

"Oh I follow alright and I have to admit I felt like giving you a smack when you were telling me about your little code as well." said Gant before he took one final swig of his coffee

Gant winced after he finished the coffee, it had been quite hot and drinking an entire cup of it under a minute was probably not the best thing to do. But then again with the idea of running into one of these "Danterays" running around in his head he knew he had to be as alert as possible, not that coffee heightened senses would make a lick of difference against someone of Xyon's size and strength. Well unless if came down to running away, an eventuality Gant was always prepared for.

Gant dropped the grubby cup onto the table and stretched briefly before heading towards the door. It was a cold night, not excessively so but more than enough to make him long for the warmth of the guardhouse. However, the simple fact that the air didn't smell like smoke, booze and sweat was enough to taper this desire to return indoors.

"Aren't too many places in the business district that put up with an alchemist, we can give a quick look around. If we see an doorframe damage that a giant may have caused we can take a better look I suppose." said Gant as he rubbed his hands together "Anyways, back to your story. You think this guy is here looking for you or does he just here to see the sights?"

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Xyon permitted himself a small chuckle at Theo's comments, which became a guffaw as he watched the smaller man down his coffee and burn his mouth.
"You could have brought it with you, you know." He said, smiling.

Following Theo outside, they set off at the universal policeman's pace, the slow, labourless walk which could be maintained for twelve hour shifts without too much trauma. He sniffed the air, revelling somewhat in the fresh smell of it, away from the dank, squallid little sweat-boxes of the guardhouse.

The street opened up into a wider road, as he listened to Theo's suggestions. The pair plodded on in the general direction of nowhere, aimlessly patrolling the dark and bitter streets. In the dark, the purple glows from his eyes lit the shadows created by the flickering flames from the streetlights, lit many hours ago. He cast purple light wherever he looked, obliterating shadow and hiding places with sweeping turns of his head in his standard patrol manner.

After a few moments, he looked to Theo, the light from his eyes glinting off the polished steel armour of his companion, creating interesting dancing light and shadows on the walls around them. With a soft deadpan voice, the words were uttered with no trace of emotion at all.

"We may need to discount the brothel and it's kicked-in door. That was me."

Thinking about things for a moment, as they trudged on through the gloom, he reasoned with himself. Theo was right, there weren't many places in the city would actually let an alchemist set up shop, so to speak. Those guys dealt with some of the most stupidly dangerous stuff he'd ever seen - one had managed to replicate the glow from Xyon's eyes in his own, by splashing a certain concoction of chemicals into his sockets.

He remembered the screams to this day.

Still thinking away to himself, he spoke again to Theo:
"You're right, though. Being with an alchemist reduces the number of places we should bother about looking in. Any ideas? I know of two places we could start in, myself."

[Thelonius Gant]

While Xyon fell into role as a guardsmen within seconds it took Thelonius a bit longer to get into the swing of it. Of course Gant had long ago given up on peering into the shadows surrounding the street having decided that if trouble wasn't going to announce itself there was no point looking for it, that and he was certain all that swivelling his head around to look at things wasn't good for his neck. Thelonius just looked ahead because he was less worried about horrors lurking in the darkness than what he might be stepping in.

"Xyon, I will never discount a brothel" said Thelonius distractedly as he stared ahead "You just give me a few minutes to think up a some other reason as to why we'd have to go there."

Thelonius took a moment to sigh as he stared blankly ahead, tracking down people wasn't something he was used to. Normally people found him, of course then they tried to hurt him but that was the price of convenience. Unfortunately it was unlikely that this alchemist was going to just bump into the two guardsmen on hi way to the tavern which meant that Gant was going to have to think about this.

He didn't know much about alchemy but he knew the basics of it, turning stuff into other stuff via the medium of explosions and anything else liable to cause serious injury. Any responsible person would try and keep himself as isolated as possible but last time Gant checked Marn wasn't exactly over burdened with responsible people.

"Well let's think about this..." Gant began slowly "I ain't ever heard of an alchemist called Beaker, Backar or anything in between so let's assume this guy keeps a relatively low profile. Derelict warehouse maybe?"

Thelonius thought about what he just said for a moment, he didn't like it.

"No, if he's an alchemist he's not going to want to leave equipment and all that lying around in a warehouse. He's going to want somewhere with some degree of security... but then again he's going to want to be relatively close to the countryside for... well... whatever he's putting in tubes."

The cogs were moving in Gant's head now, slowly and showing no indication of going faster but they were certainly moving. Of course it was all assumptions but they sounded like relatively plausible assumptions, which was a damn sight better than what Gant normally operated with.

"I'm thinking a boarding house, edge of the district. Not a nice boarding house mind you, one of the dingier ones... which is unfortunate because it'd narrow it down a whole lot more if we were looking for somewhere classy"

Then the cogs stopped, perhaps seizing up from over use, and Gant was left with a night of walking down every back alley of the business district looking for cheap lodging houses that looked like a giant had been though them recently. Suffice to say, it didn't sound fun.

"...well, that's all I got." said Thelonius shrugged "You got any insight there Xyon? Gut feeling, hunches, unjustifiable suspicion, magical visions, you know anything will do."

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Xyon didn't. Sadly his experiences of the city thus far didn't seem to lend themselves to kindly to much of the right nature. He shrugged, absently smoking on yet another cigarette as the day-to-day life of the city happened around them, at night. And yet... something odd.

Shouting wasn't unusual, really. People shouted quite a lot, here, and it was but the matter of a few seconds to comprehend and disregard most of it. However, there were a few words that Xyon's brain simply couldn't disregard.

Help

Well, that would be one of them. He whirled around, trying to locate the source of the shriek - it would have been a mis-description to call it much else. "Shout" would simply not have belied the angst clearly audible in the utterance which met their ears.

Purple glow followed around them as he turned his head toward the general direction the screaming was coming from, as there was more, not words anymore, just panicked cries, bouncing crazily off the buildings around them and echoing in the street.

Dropping instantly into guardsman mode proper, Xyon let inohen draw herself with but a moment's mental release. The sword's glow proved invaluable in the dark anyway, but from general experience her intimidating nature could be just as useful.

She roared into life as the silvery metal exhibited it's own light, shimmering into the darkness. Once a symbol for the noble fight between Xenetians and Danteri, the weapon served more as a beacon of hope these days, and as the hilt dropped neatly into his outstretched hands, the light met the source of the screaming.

An everyday mugging. Oh joy.

Bellowing forth, Xyon's powerful lungs and diapragm worked in unison to unleash a barrage of noise toward his new opponent. Perhaps, from a distance, some words may have been detectable, but up close, all it appeared to be was a primal roar. Anger fuelled him into action as his mind processed the situation on full automatic.

The woman being mugged still clung to her coin purse, locked in a wrestling match with her assailant which had halted as they both stared with equal fear at the sight ufolding before their eyes. The dark, narrow alley they had been in a moment ago was suddenly flooded with divine light, as both seven-foot-tall wall-of-muscle-in-shiny-plate-armour and his weapon flooded righteous fury down upon them.

They both screamed, the mugger abandonig all hope of taking the coin purse and instead trying to flee. Xyon darted after him, shouting back at Theo to take care of the woman, who was understandably shaken, mostly by this most recent turn of events. Without a second thought, or a look back to see if Theo had in fact done anything, he charged full-tilt after the relatively smaller man fleeing manically before him.

Long legs and excellently toned and trained muscles proved the advantage, as he closed the gap between them to as little as five feet. Perfect.

Diving forward into a rugby-like-tackle, he shot forward at even greater speed, grabbing the panicked would-be-mugger and flinging him sideways into the wall of the alley as if he were made of paper. As they both regained their feet, Xyon was again the quicker of the two, perhaps because he had not just been slammed into solid brickwork at an appreciable fraction of local lightspeed.

Before the other man could regain his feet, he found a rather hard knee bearing a lot of weight pressed into the small of his back. His arms were dragged back around and restrained in the accepted manner, as an extremely unpleasant and unfairly not-out-of-breath voice spoke into his ear.

"You are under arrest. Please don't struggle."

[Thelonius Gant]

Gant had always prided himself on his excellent yet extremely selective hearing. For Gant not hearing things had allowed him to remain blissfully unaware of several of the more vociferous dangers within the city and at the same it meant he could completely miss it when someone said "Please don't hit me". Unfortunately on this occasion the shriek which was now ringing through the night air was loud enough to rattle window panes and without a spontaneous loss of hearing it proved impossible to miss.

Perhaps if Thelonius had been alone he would have immediatly brandished his sword and sprinted in the direction of the cry, although this was unlikely. Generally Gant didn't like to run but even if the mood took him he certainly wouldn't do it whilst waving a sword in the air. Of course he did have a conscience, perhaps even a sense of duty, but after more than a decade of service it was almost entirely buried under beneath layers of apathy, prejudice and cynicism. So Gant didn't turn around, he didn't unsheathe his sword and he didn't head in the direction of the noise. All Thelonius did was stare off into the darkness in front of him and wait for the reaction of a man whose conscience didn’t have to fight it’s way out of a shallow grave.

It didn’t take long, a burst of light cut through the darkness of street and seconds later a bellow which actually could have deafened him rang out. Apart from a slight smile Gant didn't really react to this, he simply continued to stare in the darkness for a few moments. This was not due to cowardice or callousness, which was often the case with Thelonius Gant, but instead it was because he was not willing to lose what very little night vision he'd acquired in the dimly lit street by turning around to look at the illuminated avenging angel barrelling towards justice.
Although chances were such a sight was breathtaking, especially so if you were the one he was running towards.

Eventually Gant turned and set off after Xyon, moving at a speed quick enough as not to be left behind but slow enough to ensure that by the time he got there he wouldn't have much to do. As he rounded a corner and entered one of the numerous alleys of the city he finally saw the reason for all the commotion. It had been a mugging and by now its perpetrator had to think he was the unluckiest man in Marn. People were supposed to just hand over their valuables on these occasions, because normally any sensible citizen took the precaution of not carrying anything worth dying for, and if they did decided to scream and try to fight there certainly shouldn't be two guardsmen within earshot. But if there were they definitely weren’t supposed to be dedicated and/or giant. Thelonius almost felt a pang of sympathy of the luckless man as he abandoned his crime as Xyon bared down on him but then he remembered he was a mugger and so he decided just to grin foolishly.

When he heard Xyon call back to him to take care of the women his grin didn't falter. In future he really was going to have to start patrolling with Xyon more as they both seemed to have an complete understanding of the others strengths. And so while Xyon continued to chase down the mugger Gant slowed to canter and prepared to make a glowing first impression.

“Hello ma’am.” said Gant nonchalantly as he could manage, which if you discounted the heavy breathing was quite nonchalant “Sorry about that, but don't you worry we'll take care of it now."

Gant smiled a winning smile at the women as he gave he a quick look over. All in all not bad. Of course she was shivering, pale and her pupils were dilated but then again someone had just tried to mug her and then been driven off by a shining giant so that was understandable and suffice to say Gant was more than ready to understand. Backer would wait for another night because Thelonius now had a moral duty to be there for this women, it was the least a handsome city Guardsman could do.
...well it was the least a decidedly average looking guardsman in an alley dark enough to hide that fact could do anyway.

He bent down to pick up women’s fallen coin purse as even though he'd probably done enough by being vaguely affiliated with the event which had saved her life it didn't hurt to be a gentleman. It had been opened in the struggle and upon noticing how light the purse was he couldn't help but look inside. It was surprising to see only around four bishani inside as not only did it mean the women was pretty stupid not to just let the mugger take the purse but it also meant she wasn't as rich as she had looked. For Thelonius one of these facts was more disappointing than the other.

But alas he was committed to it now and he couldn't let a difference in income change that. He was preparing to hand the purse back to the women when something else inside it caught his eye. It put a damper on his enthusiasm.

"You know I was going to say you were lucky and you were only going to get luckier..." Gant frowned as he took a thin glass vial out of the purse “But now I'm not so sure."

Holding the vial between his thumb and index finger Gant looked at it for a moment and then back at the women. Her eyes were still dilated but now Gant knew it hadn't been caused by Xyon's dramatic charge. Thelonius sighed and reluctantly decided the moment was lost.

"Well since you appear to be in the know I'm going to ask you a question ma'am." said Gant as he shifted awkwardly into his role as Guardsman once again "Now I don't want to hear denials or some sob story I just want to know one thing, where can I find an alchemist called Backar?"

For a moment the women said nothing, at first she'd been afraid that upon finding the vial the Guardsman would arrest her but now instead he was asking about alchemists. Apparently she was extremely lucky as it was uncommon to find a lowly guardsman with such an expensive interest.

“...do you mean Bekkar?" the women asked in a low husky voice that made Gant curse his spontaneous morality "I believe he stays in Cacerone Boarding House. Not worth the trip, miserable little place at the edge of the district. Now If you really want something good you should-"

"Ma’am, you are in a hole and I suggest you stop digging." Gant interrupted in a tone of voice which conveyed his irritation that he wouldn't be doing any digging that night "Now I think it would be best if you just ran along."

Gant considered crushing the vial in his hand for emphasis but due to an irrational fear of getting shards of glass stuck in his hand he settled for tossing it over his shoulder. In that instant the women's expression changed from gratitude to anger but even so she knew better than to try anything or say anything about it. She was lucky to be getting away without being arrested and though she did flounce off haughtily she did it at speed.

“Oh it could have been wonderful..." said Gant wistfully to himself as he watched the women walk off.

He shrugged, there were plenty more fish in the sea but it was just he probably wouldn't find another one in a barrel for a few weeks. He wandered down the alley to see what Xyon had gotten up and was far from surprised to see the mugger had been subdued.

"Well I see you're on top of the situation there Xyon" said Gant cheerily before taking on a more sombre tone of the after thought "Oh how I wish I could say the same..."

[Xyon_of_Calhoun]

Xyon stood slowly, feeling the night air rush around his face oddly. There had been a brief sensation of mild pain, which he had ignored, but the man beneath him had struggled, even after he asked him not to so nicely. So he had hit him very hard with the gauntlet of his right fist, which seemed to have dented on the man's skull. The twisted metal glinted in the moonlight, and he stared at it, oddly fascinated for a moment. Then a portion of his mind told him it wasn't really normal to stare at such things with fascination, and so he stopped, and carried on standing up.

It seemed to take an awful long time, and a lot of effort. Almost like he had to tense and relax every muscle involved in the process manually, which was also odd. His head felt light, very light in fact, and a headache was bullying it's way into his consciousness with gusto, but his constitution fought it off valiantly. Still, even though he had now stood up, he didn't seem to be able to stay that way very well. He swayed one way, and just when he managed to counteract this by leaning the opposite way, he found himself swaying that way, so he had to lean the other way again, but this brought him back out the other side of his balance and made him fall over.

Convieniently, he happened to fall on the prisoner, who was also in the sluggish process of getting to his feet. 253lbs of solid Xenetian muscle collapsed onto him, breaking a few ribs and causing a ragged scream of pain and shock to bellow forth from his broken chest. The sound rattled oddly around Xyon's head as he struggled to focus, realising that the man was consciouss, that he was trying to escape, that he really should hit him again, that his arms felt too heavy, that he really, really couldn't muster the effort and it would be better for him and for the rest of the city if he just laid down and went to sleep for a while until his brain was working properly again.

Inohen, however, decided otherwise. Screaming out of her scabbard under her own influence, she dropped into Xyon's hand, which reflexively grabbed the hilt, and she hauled him to his feet and smacked him around the head with the pommel, which didn't make his headache any better. After this, the glowy sword wrenched out of his hand, causing him to wince and clutch his wrist with the sheer forces involved in this action, and slammed her pommel into the prisoner's face.

Repeatedly.

Xyon stood watching, not quite sure what was going on. A minute or so ago, he couldn't be sure of that, he'd had the situation under control, and everything had been going well, and then something sharp and burny had smashed in his face and he'd tasted a horrible acid kind of taste, and then his brain had gone on strike and left him with an invoice, a list of chores, and a splitting headache, which the glowy sword which somehow belonged to him but was more than that and was part of him hadn't helped by smacking him, and now she - something told him the sword was a she - was beating his prisoner up, who seemed soundly unconscious by this point.

He tried to speak, but his throat was too dry, and his lips were too sore, and his tongue felt like it had ballooned to the size of a football, and his lungs screamed with pain, and the blood on his face which he'd just noticed seemed to burn his skin as it fell to the ground, coating his lovely shiny armour with a thin red tint, which upset him because he'd spent hours polishing it the night before and it shouldn't be allowed to get dirty so soon. He sat back down in a funk and started to try to clean it with his sleeve, but that was made of metal too, and grated across it, leaving scratches in the sticky red gleaming surface and making a horrible noise, so he decided he'd better not do that again and tried to stand back up, except now his legs didn't work and he couldn't remember how to use them, although he tried to flex his muscles out nothing much seemed to be happening, so he settled for sitting where he was and watching his sword still battering the life out of someone he really didn't seem to like very much.

Oh, yes, that was why, the man had been very rude and hadn't stopped stuggling when he'd asked him to. That wasn't nice, so he'd hit him, and dented his gauntlet. He hoisted his arm up, to scrutinise his metal glove, but overshot it and punched himself in the jaw very hard, which made him collapse backwards and moan a little bit. Where was Theo? He couldn't remember. Sleep was a good option, he decided, sleep and it'll all be better, he'll wake up in the morning right as rain and his brain will work properly and his body might actually do what he tells it to and maybe his sword will have got bored of smashing up unconscious criminals and-

The word "criminal" floated vaguely through his brain, echoing in the sudden emptiness that his vacating intelligence had left it stranded in. It wandered around in vain, looking for something to connect to, and found the only thing still left of Xyon of Calhoun. It sunk into his code of honour and poked at various parts of it, probing the code which was burned into his mind with ferocity like a dentist poking various bad teeth, waiting for the pain to come.

It didn't. But Xyon stood up, stretched, and wandered over to his charge, gripping Inohen in mid-pommel strike and carefully sliding her back into her scabbard. He was operating on full auto-pilot, which didn't allow for communication with the weapon, but the sword knew she'd got a little carried away and so cooperated willingly. Xyon called to his partner, as he hoisted the unconscious body onto his shoulder and began to walk towards the guardhouse, where the vagrant would spend the night in cells. Usually they'd get a kicking, although, and some part of Xyon's mind which still posessed a sense of humour found this funny so he smiled, this one looked very much like he'd dived into a gnomish device and had his face caved in. So maybe he wouldn't.

Xyon wandered past Theo and out into the open road, noticing the fact that the woman was absent with little remark. Without even checking that Theo was walking beside him, he turned to where his fellow guardsman should have been and said,
"Theo, I think I've been drugged."