Session 01 - Ocillan Island

The sun’s first rays entering the small basement from one of the higher windows, as well as the chirping of birds signaled the coming of dawn and broke Zomirth’s focus who up until that time was engrossed in one of his books. “Guess it’s time…”, the man thought to himself, and with careful movements, he picked up his cup and finished what little coffee was still inside it. Slowly, he closed the book, so old that it could fall apart at any moment if not treated gently, and placed it on top of a pile on his desk. He moved towards the door leading to the rest of the house but paused and turned to the hatch that led directly outside the back of the house. The hour was still early but Magnys’ father was sure to be up already, making preparations for his fishing trip and Zomirth was far too tired for a conversation with the man.

As he climbed out of the hatch, moving slowly to make as little noise as possible, he saw heard the noise of people moving on the streets. Usually a common thing as the working men had to prepare for their jobs even earlier than first light, but the traffic seemed a bit too much today. “Must be a busy day”, thought Zomirth as he moved to the side where Magnys’ room was located and started climbing a small tree to reach her back window. From inside he could hear the sounds of mechanical parts working together and metal hitting wood, as the girl was most likely working on her customized whip again. He softly tapped her window and waited for her response.

Having woken up a few hours before dawn to preen Shrubbeard, her little bonsai plant, Magnys had then begun doing maintenance on her whip, polishing out rust and scratches, and making sure all the little segments are all properly lubricated. Amidst the whirring noise of the train set in the middle of her room and the ticking of the clock, she had nearly missed the soft taps on the window.

Bolting up from her desk and shoving her whip into her knapsack with a grin, she opens the window and greets Zomirth, before lowering the rope ladder that was attached to it - their preferred way of sneaking out without the family or neighbours noticing.

"The rest of the gang are all waiting at the base, aren't they? Most of them prolly aren't up yet, though."

“Yeah, they should have arrived by yesterday. It’ll take us a few hours to get there, if you don’t get us lost again, so they should be up by then.”, replied Zomirth. “And if not… We can have some fun waking them up ourselves.”, he said with a devilish grin.

He jumped down from the tree and landed on the ground as Magnys was preparing to use the ladder to descent. “Don’t forget that plant of yours, you know how crazy you get when it’s far from you.”, he said while looking at her, waiting for her to join him so they could leave.

"We didn't get lost! We just followed my nose for adventure!"

Putting Shrubbeard in the knapsack after putting him in his capsule, Magnys descended the ladder and threw it back into her second floor window.

Glaring daggers at Zomirth, she replied "I don't get crazy....you're exaggerating it. " Stamping her foot once on the ground and putting her hands on her hips, she grins and says, "Whose's nose for adventure should we follow today?"

“Right, right, my bad, you don’t get crazy”, he said while patting her head. “Well, let’s follow my nose today, there’s something that I want to check on the way.” Magnys was a bit skeptical about what he could possibly want to check so early in the morning but didn’t inquire any further about it. She’s known him for 3 years, ever since she found him washed up in one of the shores and if she knows one thing about Zomirth is that he keeps his secrets well until he’s ready to reveal them.

They headed for the small dirt road that connected their neighborhood to the main road of the town and loud noises of people running around could be heard from further towards the center. “Too early for this many people to be up already…”, muttered Zomirth under his breath, but loud enough for Magnys to hear him. This clued her in as to what he wanted to check. Indeed, although most working folk would get up early to prepare for their day, it wasn’t until at least a few hours later that a crowd big enough to create this amount of traffic that they could hear would leave their houses.

Zomirth led them to one of the smaller roads parallel to the main road, close enough for them to see what was going on every time they’d reach an intersection, but far enough to stay out of whatever was going on. Zomirth momentarily froze when they saw men with the traditional white and blue uniform that Marines wear walk from house to house, knocking on doors and asking questions, but he kept on moving. Marines were known to stop to Ocillan island from time to time so this wasn’t necessarily something alarming. As they were headed towards the town’s exist though, Zomirth heard one of the Marines ask one of the town’s people “Do you recognize this man? He goes by the name of Netzach.”

Although he tried to hide it, his expression revealed that what he heard was cause to worry.

Seeing Zomirth freeze at the name the Marines mentioned, Magnys lowered her voice to a whisper. "Someone you know of?"

Debating between going to sneak a peek at what's going on between the center of the commotion and finding a quiet way out of town, Magnys glanced at Zomirth and asked, "Do you want me to go take a look? Or would you rather we made haste for the base?"

Magnys’s question forced Zomrith to snap back to reality. “Hmm, what? Oh, uh… I don’t know.”, he replied, still unsure about what the best course of action would be. “Yeah, try to get a bit closer. See if you can hear what they’re talking about and maybe take a peek at that poster, but don’t draw any attention to yourself if possible. I’ll wait here.”, and with a worried look, he moved just outside of the intersection so the buildings would hide him.

Nodding slightly at Zomirth, Magnys joins a couple other villagers who were heading into the crowd, trying to see what the center of all the commotion was about. As she made her way through the crowd to try to sneak a glance at the poster, from the villagers' reactions, most of them seem to not recognize the person that the Marines were looking for.

As she inched close enough to see the poster, Magnys froze slightly. The face on the poster, with a 20 million bounty on his head, was one familiar to her. Although he looked more unkempt and had longer hair compared to now, she could recognize the man they were searching for as Zomirth.

Ever since she'd found him washed up on the shore and her family had given him a place to stay, she hadn't really seen him go outside or interact with anyone aside from their group much. She had thought that he was just a little introverted, since he had preferred to mostly keep to himself or to his books, but now it was clear that there was more going on than anyone could have ever imagined.

Slowly breaking away from the crowd and making her way back between the buildings trying not to draw any attention, Magnys got to where Zomirth was hiding.

"So, what's going on?"

"Do you have a twin brother?"

"....... Uhhh. A Twin? What?"

"They're looking for a guy that looks a lot like you for 20 million."

"Oh wow, I'll have to ask my mother. That's lot of money."

With a look of unmasked surprise and worry on her face, Magnys whispered,

"They're looking for you. "

Zomirth held his head with his left hand for a few seconds before looking up to Magnys with a soft smile and said “Well, I’d rather they didn’t find me.”

“Well, I could turn you in for 20 million and hopefully bail you out later. We can split the money.” She paused for a second, “But I think hurrying for the base would be the better choice, we’ll TALK when we get there.”, she said in a very serious tone.

“I get the feeling I may be in trouble… not sure why”
“Well, you’re right, let’s get going”

The two of them picked up their pace and headed straight for the exit of the town, keeping an eye out for other Marines, but it seems they hadn’t spread much further than the town’s center. Without any trouble, they reached the unmanned gate and took the dirt road that led them east, towards and old bridge.

During their walk, Zomirth had been wearing a very concerned expression and Magnys couldn’t help but notice, but she didn’t want to say anything until they reached their base where they could discuss the situation in detail. Zomrith surprised her by taking the initiative to talk.

“Uhm… You know that you’d only get the bounty after they executed me, right?”

“Fake dying from a heart attack.”

“Solid plan.”

As they kept walking they reached a point where the road split into two, the right part led to a small fishing village and the left part led to the bridge that would get them past the river flowing down from the mountain. They headed for the bridge and although the road was still visible, it was clear that this route was not frequently travelled. Vegetation had begun overtaking parts of the road and the forest around them was getting thicker and thicker. There was nothing important beyond the bridge, or so people thought at least, so no one travelled that way. The population of the island hadn’t grown enough for a new town to be needed and so attempts to clear that part of the island had stopped at the river. As kids, Magnys and her friends had explored the forest and found the ruins of an old town and a tower nearby, hidden in the forest and ever since they made that place their base and showed it to Zomirth when he joined their group. The rest of their friends were already at the tower waiting for them.

Both were silent as they kept walking until Zomirth suddenly froze. Magnys turned to look at him and saw a panicked expression on his face as he gasped and clutched his chest and fell to his knees.

Magnys had wandered in front of Zomirth for a bit, when she remembered that they were supposed to let him lead since she had a very bad habit of getting distracted or running off where they weren't meant to go.

She had turned back to check on Zomirth (since she started to wonder why he hasn't tried to rein her back), when she saw his face go pale and him collapsing onto his knees. Rushing to his side, she exclaimed, "I said fake it, not get a real heart attack!" and begun to flip through his bag for the medicine that he usually brought with him, since he has had been afflicted with an illness from when they had first met when he washed up at the shore.

Acting like everything was normal and to Magny's amazement, Zomirth stood up and begun dusting off his clothes.

"Huh, I guess the fake heart attack plan really could work. Now can you please stop making a mess out of my things and hand me my bag back? There's books in there older than both of us combined.", he said, extending a hand to Magnys who was still on the ground.

"You and your dingy, dusty ol' books."

Magnys yeets the bag towards Zomirth, using the distraction to close in and flick him on the forehead.

Well, unless you wanna continue with your heart attack or wait for the Marines to find us here, we should probably hurry for the base.

Seeing Magnys throw the bag filled with his beloved books, Zomirth quickly reacted and managed to catch it in the air. He started looking at its contents with a worried look, but was happy to see that no damage was done.

Wisely keeping his mouth shut, he turned to look towards Magnys who was already moving along the road, somehow managing to almost lose her way. With a sigh, Zomirth begun walking towards her, quickly overtaking her so that she would follow him instead of lead them further away from their destination.

Soon after they reached the old stone bridge that went over a small river and lead into the unexplored forest to the east of the island. Although the bridge was still operational, one could see small cracks that had been caused by the passage of time. After the bridge there was no road to be seen. Zomirth lead the way according to his memories, having to stop a few times to recall the correct direction.

He would often have to look back to check up on Magnys and make sure she was still following him. At one point, she was about to take a wrong turn even with him in front of her and he had to break the silence. "Hey, over here. Don't wander.", he said, but all he got as a reply was a glare. Still Magnys did follow him as carefully as she could.

"I'm in a world of trouble...", he though, and mentally prepared himself for what was to come once they reached the tower.

After a couple of hours inside the thick forest, they saw the top of the stone tower peeking above the trees, signaling their arrival.

"Heh...to think the island itself would change it's shape to confuse me...being a genius is truly exhausting."
Aarden sighed as he took another look around his surroundings. It looked familiar so he knew he had already gone through here. It had been three hours since he left the base to perform his daily recon activities of the area. Usually he found his way back within two. The island certainly was a smart opponent to change it's whole structure like that without anyone noticing.
"Are you sure you're not just lost?" His gun chimed in.
"Oh please! There's no way that could happen." Aarden confidently said as he put a scratch on a tree. A mark so he would know if he was back here again. Then he started walking through another random path. "By the way Bob, didn't you keep track of the way we came? I've been telling you to do that since we started living there!"
"In case it's breaking news, I'm a gun now you dumbass. We're not exactly known for having eyes. Besides aren't you a genius? Path finding should be easy for you then."
Bob was right! Aarden thought to himself and smiled. He had finally acknowledged Aarden's genius. "Very well! Let me show you the power of a genius!!"
...
Thirty minutes later he was back in front of the marked tree.
"Heh you win this round, island."
"Fucking idiot..."
Aarden knew there was only one thing left to do. He brought out Bob from his holster and shot two rounds into the sky. Hopefully someone from the base would hear them and come to him.
"I should've done this from the start. Taking on an island is too much even for a genius like me. With more people we should be able to find our way back. Heh sometimes I scare myself with my plans."
And so Aarden sat down under the tree he had marked and waited.

As the familiar sight of the stone tower entered their vision, Magnys picks up the pace and sprints towards their base, only to be stopped short when two gunshots rang out from the forest behind them.

Her face blanched slightly as she turns back towards Zomirth, who appears to have heard the shots and froze in his tracks as well.
"You don't think those were from the Marines, do you? What if they found out about the base or of our friends? Should we hurry to the base to warn them or should we go check it out?

"No, they were still in the town when we left. They shouldn't have had enough time to pass us and find the base, especially without us seeing them. I'm sure it's nothing.", said Zomirth, but his right hand still traced the hilt of one of the two katana swords that were hanging from his waist, a reaction that didn't escape Magnys' attentive eye.

"Unless of course they sent a second team to scout the woods...", he thought and tried to conceal his worry.

"In any case, we should at least check it out."

Magnys leads the way towards where the gunshots sounded from, taking care to not make any excessive noise along the way. After fifteen minutes, they reach a small clearing, and Magnys notices Aarden laying down under a tree with his eyes closed.

She turned and motioned to Zomirth, only to see a branch fall right smack onto his face.

"Oof.. Welp, well then..., she whispered to herself as she begins to round off around the trees, trying to sneak up on Aarden.

As she closes the distance, the breeze blows a lock of her hair towards her nose, causing her to sneeze.

Just as Aarden dozed off from waiting for help he heard footsteps behind him.
Hmm?
He carefully gripped his gun which he was loosely holding on to while still pretending to be asleep.
A bit closer and bang!
Then he heard some kind of sound. He wasn't sure what it was because he never heard anything like it. It sounded like a sneeze but at the same time didn't. If someone poured water through their nostrils then they'd probably make that sound. Nevertheless Aarden sprang to his feet as he pointed the gun at his creeping assailant.
"Heh you think you can creep up on a genius like m- wait it's just you two."
He could see Magnys, with both her arms in a creeping posture. Her face was covered by her hair because of the sudden breeze blowing. A little bit behind he could also see Zomirth, his face covered by a relatively large branch.
...Huh? Aarden wasn't quite sure what to make of the scene before him.
And then he figured it out.
Of course! By making themselves look as dumb as possible they managed to make the island lower it's guard so it wouldn't change it's shape! What a foolproof strategy!
"Um..I don't know what you're thinking but I'm sure it's wrong."
Aarden ignored Bob's retort. "Thank you for finding me my friends! To think you would make such a cunning plan without a genius like me around! Bravo!"
"Oh god help me..."

The falling branch caught Zomirth completely by surprise, hitting him hard in the face and actually knocking him on the ground as he tried to muffle his cry. But what surprised him even more was seeing Magnys attempt to sneak up on anyone, knowing how terrible she is at it, managing to give away her position with a sneeze and then finding out that the person she was trying to sneak up on was their friend, Aarden, who was somehow lost with the tower stil somewhat visible above the tree tops.

What a sorry bunch we are..., he thought to himself as he stood up, visible less stressed now that they knew the gunshots didn't come from a marine squad.

"Indeed, Aarden. Your genius must be rubbing off on us! Now, shall I escort you two back to the tower before this island decides to play another trick on us? Hopefully I'll manage to stay on my feet for the duration of this trip, I seem to be falling down a lot today."

"Heh I'll let you take the lead for once!", said Aarden, holstering his weapon.

"It would be my honor."

Zomirth begun leading the way, his pace quicker than usual, and soon after they were in front of the tower. The structure they were using as their base originally seemed to have been built in a clearing in the forest, but after an unknown amount of time since it was abandoned, the vegetation had crept its way closer. Even after all those years, the tower was still in a good shape, with only a few visible cracks , but no real structural damage.

Zomirth opened the wooden door and entered the ground floor of the tower. There were another two floors above that the group was using, the first was where they slept and the third was mostly empty, expect for some weird carvings on the walls. On the ground floor, there was a table with four chairs around it and things that they all kept for their personal use, like Aarden's medical supplies and Magnys' cooking equipment.

Although the tower had some windows, the trees that had grown close to it blocked most of the light that would enter the ground flood, so the three of them could barely see. Narder wasn't on the ground floor, which meant he was most likely still sleeping. Zomirth walked towards the table, lit a candle and sta on one of the chairs, looking at Magnys and Aarden.

"So, we should probably talk."

Aarden was reorganizing his medical supplies when Zomirth spoke. Noticing his serious tone Aarden stopped what he was doing and looked at him. Being the genius that he was, he had noticed the young swordsman wasn't quite himself today as they were in the forest. He seemed to be thinking about something. Even the cheerful Magnys seemed a little shaken up.
"Okay, so talk. Don't tell me you're gonna tell us about your secret backstory where you're actually a cyborg samurai who killed people because you wanted a breast implant but they didn't know what it was. Afterwards some hot chick showed you what it's like to be human before dying so now you're traveling to help others but those people from the past caught up to you?"
"You could've shut up after the first sentence." Bob said in a tired voice, as if he was done with this shit.
"But Bob, imagine if he actually told us his backstory now....would be so cliché. Right Magnys?" Aarden said as he looked at Magnys, who appeared to be playing to be playing with her weird plant.
She even named the plant too...what a weirdo.(The same could be applied to him)

Magnys had sat down and pulled Shrubbeard out of her bag, setting him in his spot on the middle of the table, where he could supervise their discussions. She'd often remarked that his position in the crew would be the branch manager.

After a few nervous moments of fiddling with the pot, she leaned in towards the table and whispered in a hushed voice.

"Being secretive today eh? Feels like a confession", Aarden swept his hand over his hair and flashed a grin at the two of them.

Keeping herself from rolling her eyes, Magnys begins to tell of what she saw back in the town.
"When we were heading out at dawn, there was a group of Marines asking about a wanted poster around town."

Aarden's mouth fell for an instant, before he wiped his forehead. "Heh nice joke. They couldn't possibly find a genius like me."

Ignoreing him, Magnys continues, still staring right at Zomirth "The guy in the poster looked just like you. While I know you've preferred to keep your past to yourself, this will potentially put my family in danger."

Aarden's jaw dropped again, pointing an accusing finger at Zomirth. "Wait they came for you? Wtf I'm the genius here!!" Pulling his gun closer to his ear, he stared accusingly at it before telling it to "Shut up."

Holding her gaze, Magnys tries to hold a steady voice as she address Zomirth.
"So... What do we need to know of Netzach D. Sephira?

For a time, Zomirth seemed lost in his thoughts, contemplating how to answer. Eventually he raised his head and looked at Magnys.

"Netzach... I haven't been called that in a very long time.", he said, obviously uncomfortable. "You know that I have traveled quite a bit before landing, or rather crashing, in this island. That wasn't by choice.". He chuckled, "Neither the traveling, nor the crashing."

He pause for a time, before continuing. "For the past 8 years, I've used many different names, each one only once before the marines caught on to my trail and I had to change my identity and move to another place. I've always been one step ahead of them, mostly because they never knew my real identity. It's worrying that they do now, I don't know how they managed that.", he said sighing.

"It's already been 3 years since I got here. After time slowly passed, I started being hopeful that they gave up on their hunt for me or at least that the trail had gone cold. You have to know, I never meant to put you or your families in harm's way.", he said with an apologetic look.

"But the fact is, that I have. That they came to this island after all those years, and that they are using my real name instead of one of the fake ones, means that they are closer than ever. I don't think that they knew I am here before coming, if they did they would have come in force, but someone in the village will tell them about me and that I live with your family. I have a plan to clear the town's name and for it to work, I'm going to need your help, one last time."

Aarden quietly listened to Zomirth as he gave his explanation, noticing the pained expression he had while recalling his past. He thought about his own past, thought about his own struggles to get out of it. He subconsciously touched the handle of the gun.
No one can truly get away...can they...
There was an eerie silence in the room as Zomirth waited for the other two's reply. So Aarden spoke first.
"Well I won't ask for details, considering I can somewhat relate to what you're going through."
And considering I also haven't been forthcoming about my own past... he thought to himself before continuing, "However, it's certainly true that you haven't done anything bad here as long as I've known you...aside from occasionally trying to peek under girl's skirts but whatever I won't judge. I'll help you out since you probably need a genius's assistance."
"Bravo you bastard! You almost sounded genuinely worried! Good job!"
Aarden ignored the talkative gun as he glanced at Magnys, wondering what her reply would be.