Trent walks out of his room, from a plush room back into the cave he remembered "Now THIS is more like it, although I really do like the room." He thinks to himself as he feels a weird aura coming from down the darkened hall, almost hostile. Trent stops and looks and without knowing it, he gave off a sinister and deadly aura and in an instant that aura stops and almost simultaneously, Raven appears behind Trent "Tex?" he says, startling Trent "Oh... Mentor, you scared me a bit." Raven felt Trent's aura but didn't know why he was ready to kill, he didn't sense another presence nearby "Before I let him leave, I have to teach him how to control that aura." He thinks to himself before asking "Are you ok? You seemed a little... disturbed, even before I startled you." Trent remembered what Widow said and responded "Honestly, I felt as if someone was down the hall giving off a hostile aura, as I turned, it stopped and then you came. It wasn't you testing me by any chance was it Mentor?" Trent asked as he looks at Raven to see him focused on down the hall and then he feels an intense aura come from him, directed to the darkened hall as Raven responds "No, it wasn't me. I don't use hostile aura in our home unless someone's in trouble." He says the last three words louder, "Trent, before you can leave I need to teach you the basics and give you a graduation. Come."
As they were walking to a room, Trent felt Raven give off another aura, it wasn't harmful but it almost felt like it contained information or a message, he decided to ask about it "Excuse me, Mentor, but what was that you just did? That aura felt as if it had... information?" They get to the door as Raven stops and with a puzzled and intrigued look asks "You felt there was information in my aura did you?" Trent nods his head, and a second later Widow appears by his side, knelt down "I'm more than happy to help Master." Raven smiles "You're correct, I sent a message or information, both have similar auras, to Widow here so she can help with your training." Widow looks at Trent then at Raven "He could tell you were sending a message?" Raven nods, "But we don't have time to discuss it. Let's get you on track to control your aura." They all enter the room as Widow takes her position near the wall opposite of the door, Trent and Raven. "Seal your aura." Raven says as Widow responds "Understood." Raven continues "Tex, I will be guiding you on how to use your aura, it's not hard at all. After I tell you how, it'll be time for a quick history lesson. By time the story is done, you should be a master at this or close enough. Ready?" Trent nods "I am Mentor." Raven walks to the West side of the room "Tex, remember what you felt when you left your room a few minutes ago, recreate those same feelings." Trent closed his eyes, trying to remember the aura that set him off. "I can't Mentor!" Raven nods and appears next to Widow and whispers in her ear "Give him some hostile aura, just a bit." And goes back to his spot as Widow lets off a small burst of hostile aura. Trent felt it, it was close to the other aura, not exactly right but it was still enough to make Trent open his eyes and give off the same aura he did before. "Wow... his aura can get pretty harsh. It'll be a lot worst when he actually MASTERS aura." Widow thought to herself, unmoved by his aura. "Good! Trent, keep that feeling going. History lesson, Trent do you know why our lair isn't filled with assassins?" Trent shakes his head "I was wondering that at one point but I figured it was because your faction is a secret."
"It is a secret yes, but we can unlock the 3 stages of aura out of people forcefully, if we wanted to, so we could build our family. The reason we don't is because the better picks are the ones with genes from our forefathers, ones with the natural ability to unlock it without too much help. I am a descendant of one of the first five of this faction, Widow is a descendant of a later generation, Strife and Muffle fall into that category also. People of Spider descent have a better grasp of this, thus making us, as a whole, a better faction, a stronger faction, a faction more in tune with their lineage. When someone of Spider descent is spotted and passes the test of our Old Master, he loosens something within you, that you're then able to unlock yourself. The mark of being of Spider descent, are Amethyst Eyes, all of the Old Ones had amethyst eyes. That's why my eyes burn of amethyst the strongest, since I'm a descendant of a first. Widow's eyes burn stronger than Strife or Muffle since her ancestors initiated them. It is possible however, for someone to gain brighter eyes through dedication and a lot of effort. Of course, we would have to wait to see later progress to determine if someone is of Spider Descent or not, the amethyst hue takes a while to show, unless you have strong DNA of a First WoundedSpider, which was the case for me. Widow, what do you see?"
Widow's mouth was wide open "I...I… Don't believe it Raven... look..." Surprised that she didn't call him Master, Raven moves a bit closer to Widows side and almost gasps at what he sees; a shaking Trent with full amethyst eyes, burning brighter than Ravens as he thinks to himself "Is this what you seen First Master?" From Trent's perspective, he was getting flashes of past assassins eyes and how they learned aura, a view of the very first amethyst eyes and the Old Master saying "Train in present....Knowledge of past.....Advance in future.....Remember our ancestors!" Raven thinks for a bit "His aura is getting more sinister by the second, let's see if he has a grasp of this." He continues "One rule our First Five had was not to give bad auras to members of this faction. "No ill intent will be festered inside of these sacred walls" was a line in a scripture written by one of the Mystery Ones, we have it too, later I'll show you. With that being said, I think you might be of VERY first descent, the descendant of a Mystery One. That story will come later but that also means these are YOUR ancestors rules we live by, ones that you should follow and enforce to the fullest. So, try changing your aura into something calming and relaxed, I think you're scaring poor Widow." Raven chuckles, and a second later, the sinister aura turned into a relaxing, calm aura. "Right now, you're using your own aura, and manipulating it into whatever feeling you want. Now, you can pinpoint your aura into a specific spot, with that same aura you're using, try pinpointing it at Widows head. It will put soothing, relaxing thoughts about you in her mind. Vice-versa, if it was sinister, she could develop a mental fear or just get nightmares, depending on how strong the aura is." Trent focused on the middle of Widows head with his relaxed aura. "Widow?" Raven said as she responded "It's like he's giving me a full body massage..." Trent smiled and cut his aura off "I feel as if I just learned 100 years' worth of aura controlling. My head is killing me though." Trent starts swaying forward and backward, then he falls forward. Widow appeared in front of him to catch him as she thought "You're an amazing person Tex." Then Raven cuts in "Let's get him back to his training area before Phantress gets done with her pupil. We have a reputation to maintain after all." Widow nods.
As Trent slept, he had a vivid dream of him living someone else's life, his thoughts and actions weren't his own anymore but instead, the thoughts and actions of a tall young man, still in his teens, dressed in an ancient assassins uniform, wielding nothing else but six swords. His outfit was black with grey streaks running around it and a mask that looked like a spider's mouth. As "Trent" walked on a narrow path up a huge tower, a woman steps out from an opening "????" Trent couldn't hear the name, "Are you still obsessing over that spell? Can't you just accept that it isn't possible for such a thing to be created? I mean swords that have a mind of their own? It just sounds ridiculous." The man walks past her, as she follows close behind and he responds "Sapphire, you have been with me the whole journey, you have always been the one person to back me up on whatever and I appreciate it. I understand how absurd this idea sounds to you, but I can guarantee you that I WILL make it happen. Think of all the things most thought was impossible that I somehow accomplished. Now ask yourself again, can he REALLY make this happen?" Sapphire sighs and says "I've stayed up plenty of nights doing that already but I just can't believe it, not after so many failures trying." The man stops and gently takes hold of her face "But with each failure comes knowledge... and with the knowledge I've obtained from Master Zain and those fails, I'm BOUND to find the answer. Just you wait, I don't hold it against you for doubting me, I was close to doubting myself also, but I'll prove you wrong, out of love of course, and every other disbeliever in our Order." They kiss and then it turns dark. The next scene "Trent" is in a cave-like laboratory, his weapons laid out on a strange looking alter "I... finally did it? I'VE MASTERED IT!!!" Dream Trent exclaimed "Before I present it... it has to be tested and I'll gladly give my life so they can master this fully, but if anything should go wrong." He laid a book down on his alter and pressed a button under it, the room filled with sand dummies, as dream Trent takes his swords and puts them on his back, two running from each shoulder diagonally, two on his hip running parallel to each other and the last two on his lower back, laying on top of each other but each hilt on opposite sides. He closes his eyes and puts up a hand sign, Trent feels the power he's using to imbue into the swords, as he finally gets ahold of his thoughts "Am I using aura from my soul?" But before he could even get another half thought, he wakes up, sitting under a tree with the sun fully out shining on him.
Nearby, he sees Raven and Widow talking and laughing, "What... what just happened?" Trent asks, as he slowly gets to his feet. They look at him "Ah Trent, glad you're finally awake. I hope you don't mind, but Widow here had to dress you. As for your weapons, I thought you were ill equipped, at least for someone from our Order. You will find your new ones behind the tree you were sleeping under." Trent turns around and goes behind the tree, as he sees weapons, and Raven, standing there "Now, when you came here you had two swords and some projectiles, so I'm guessing daggers aren't your style. It's custom for us to have six blades on us at all times, however, since you're new, I just bought 2. As for projectiles, a week before we met in person, I had a trustworthy blacksmith make some custom throwing knives and stars for you, they're in your pouch. You probably didn't notice yet, but we also enhanced your outfit to withstand more impact, without adding more padding or weight. In fact, we lightened it so you could move more freely. It can also block a considerable amount of impact from blades and unless they have superhuman strength, virtually all projectiles are useless on you. We have amazing talents on our side." Raven said smiling "Yeah, that's perfect, these swords have excellent craftsmanship too. About the clothing thing, I'm cool with that also, as long as Widow kept her hands mostly to herself." Trent says with a smirk, as she laughs "Well, I didn't. You kind of soiled yourself during your nap." Trent's eyes open wide "WHAT....!" Widow and Raven bust out laughing as she says "I'm joking Tex! Your reaction was priceless."
As they all share a laugh, Phantress appears nearby with an unconscious Derric. "Well hey there you guys, I hope we didn't make you wait too long?" Phantress says as she lays Derric on the ground. Raven steps forward "No, it was only a few hours. Actually you're a bit earlier than I expected." Phantress lets out a laugh/sigh "You're like an ultra asshole sometimes Rave, I bet you've only been here a few minutes tops." She lightly slaps Derric a few times "Hey, wake up. I was hoping we could get a little play time before you leave." She whispers in his ear as Derric jumps up with an enthusiastic face and starts saying "PLAY TI-...wait..." he stops mid-sentence with a confused look "What's up T... sooo since we have a full house here, I'm guessing there's-" He said turning to Phantress who says at the same time as Derric "No play time." Derric nods his head disappointed. "Well, what's up T!!? SHIT! I haven't seen you in what feels like forever." They do their handshake and give each other a quick hug and then separates even faster with a small smile on their faces. Raven, Widow and Phantress look at each other and start laughing, Raven starts talking "Well, you guys have a certain operation you have to prepare for do you not? With that being said, Tex, me and Widow will see you after your adventure." Raven sends off an aura at Trent "Can you understand this? If so, equip your swords." His aura said as Trent picks his swords up and puts them on opposite sides of his hip, Raven smiles "Good, I'll be making contact with you when you hit Africa. Keep an eye out and be safe." Trent gives a light nod "Yes we do, and no offense but you guys are interrupting us." as he winks at Widow. Phantress turns to Derric "Keep safe Lockpick. I won't keep eyes on you on your travels, but as soon as you come back and land, I'll have someone waiting." Derric nods "Sounds good, oh and can you tell Sleek she still owes me?" Phantress smiles "Sure, why not." And at the same time, all of them disappear from in front of the two. They turn to each other and start walking in a circle, one following the other, examining the other reformed assassin. Trent breaks the silence "So, do you feel any different?" he asks as Derric nods "Very much so actually. I have a new appreciation for... knowledge, the grass, the wind…" Derric looks around before saying "And you? Your eyes changed, I can't quite pinpoint it but you look almost completely different. Did you get a haircut?" Trent laughs a bit "Yeah, I did get a trim, I was actually starting to grow enough hair to put a comb through, a nice quarter inch comb. I learned a lot about our history, people's intentions and how strong those intentions can get, with the proper guidance." As he finished, he got a flashback of the last image he "relived", that sensation he felt, as he looks down at his swords "If I do the handsign... and focus like he did, can I do it also?" Derric tapped Trent "Dude, did you hear ANYTHING I said? I asked if you're ready to get our training started. You had that face like when I picked you up that day. When you were lost about that dream." Trent blinked a few times, fully snapping out "Yeah my bad, I was thinking of something I might show you." Derric threw on an intrigued look "Is that right? Well please do."
The training field was enormous, it had an "indoor" obstacle course that constantly threw projectiles and recycled the ones thrown so it never stopped, moving and swinging straw dummies with spikes to test how well you evaded and attacked, a narrow path that went into a huge room but before the door a giant guillotine would quickly slice down, so you had to be extremely fast to make it inside before death, not to mention the path was on an uphill slope. As Trent and Derric stared at the obstacles, both of them were thinking the same thing; this obstacle looks way easier than before their training. They exchanged glances at each other standing at the starting line. Trent gestures for Derric to go first "I'm right behind you." Derric shrugs and immediately takes off as Trent follows "I swear it looks as if Derric got way faster, I feel like I am too." he thinks to himself as they approach the first obstacle, the swinging straw dummies with spikes. Trent decided to slow his pace down a bit to fully see what Derric's plan was, because he didn't slow down even a bit as Derric uses what he learned to swiftly dodge every straw dummy, giving them the smallest stab to vital points, never slowing down for even a second as Trent thinks to himself "Wow... it looks as if he moves like the wind. So THAT'S what you learned eh?" Derric stopped on a raised platform after the dummies to observe his friend in action. Trent was approaching the dummies as he thought about his "dream", he does the hand sign he seen, closed his eyes and focused on his souls aura. The sensation he first felt started happening slowly, then all of a sudden, he feels the exact same sensation as the dream, his swords start to glow and as it does he feels as if time stopped for him as his world turns black and he hears "If I can't imagine these as extensions of my body, they'll never come back or respond to me.", it was the voice of the mysterious man he was living through. Trent's world starts coming back, as he feels time starting to become normal again "Make it an extension of your body." He whispers to himself as an amazed Derric stares at what he's seeing, nearly doubting his own eyes. Trent takes out both swords and throws one, a second later he throws the other. The first sword slices every dummy on the right in half, and the second sword slices everyone on the left, then his first sword turns and starts speeding back at Trent, then the second as he catches them both and sheathes them. As Trent got to the platform, they both had similar faces as Derric says "HOW THE FUCK!? What WAS that!??" Trent, amazed with his mouth open and a smile said "My soul dude..." Derric looks at Trent like he's on drugs "Ok, enough of the gay broke-back mountain explanation, now the real one." Trent just shakes his head with a smile and shrugs "That IS the explanation, call it what you want, that shit was soooo badass though and what about you? How did you move through them like that?" Derric mimics Trent "My soul dude." and they both laugh. "You're a douche Derric." Trent says before rushing to the next obstacle.
They jumped from platform to platform to the raised projectile room with Trent leading the way. He stops right before he gets inside as Derric stops next to him, Trent says "Hey, do you think this course is a lot easier than it used to be?" Derric nodded, "I thought it was just me. From one measly day of training, who knew we could grow so much. To me, those projectiles look kind of slow, actually VERY slow." Trent nodded "I bet. To me, they look regular but I know I can easily get past them. I've been feeling super light after leaving Raven and our Order." Derric smiled, "Well I showed off first last time, it's your turn Sonic." Trent laughed a bit "Ok, watch and learn big bro, watch and learn." Trent dashed as quickly as lightning through the projectiles, jumping, sliding and doing quick side-steps to keep just mere centimeters away from the point of the projectiles. As he easily reaches the other side, unharmed, he takes a bow. Derric claps "Not bad, not bad, but let me show you how it's REALLY done." Derric clears his throat and relaxes, a second later he does a ballerina twirl through the group of projectiles as Trent busts out laughing and pointing as he says "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!" But Derric didn't laugh as every projectile that was supposed to hit him, simply went around him instead and he makes it to the other side, bows and busts out laughing "Gay, but wasn't that pretty damn awesome hahaha." Trent is laughing still trying to catch his breath, but manages to pull himself together "It was gay alright. You want to stop or keep going? We're obviously too advanced for this now. I kind of wish I was able to get in contact with Raven, he'd know a good place I bet." Derric thought for a bit before saying "Hold on, let me see if this'll work."
Derric silently blows into the air from his mouth, sending a message, as Trent decided to try and see if there was any aura being involved. He focuses his eyes to try and see, unclear, he sees a light blue aura, it was coming from Derric, but it wasn't HIS aura. Trent was officially confused on what kind of training Derric learned as he relaxes his eyes. Derric finished and turned to Trent "Wanna head to the crib and relax until I hopefully get an answer?" Trent shrugged "Sure, I have to talk with Chasity anyway. She's probably going crazy looking for me." Trent sighed as Derric chuckled "Oh yeah, she's going to spaz on you, plus she's going to know something huge happened to you. That intuition remember?" Trent moans "Bad thing is, I'm pretty sure I can't let her in on anything yet, mainly because I barely know what happened myself but... we're secretive, to say the least." Derric pats his shoulder "Yeah, good luck with that explanation. Race you home?" Trent looked at Derric "Pfft, you're fast but I don't think you want to do that." Derric gets in his running stance "T, you usually are the fastest one but sorry for winning this race." Trent gets next to him, "Good luck. Ready.....Set...GO!!!" And they both take off in an instant, disappearing into the booby trapped forest.
As Trent and Derric sped through the forest, Trent noticed things he didn't before, or rather couldn't. He seen small aura lines coming up from what seemed to feel like traps "Oh wow, I can sense people's aura remains on traps, that's awesome." He looks to his right and sees Derric looking directly at him, smiling but still dodging trees, stumps and rocks like he made the forest, Trent looked confused. Derric yelled to him "Ok, time to start gaining a lead, we only have 7 miles left!" The wind was blowing from Trent's house to the direction of the training field, so in all actuality, Derric could feel when he needed to dodge and in a second Trent felt a weird aura surround Derric, like the aura he seen before, and Derric started quickly gaining speed. "Holy shit… that's superhuman speed and this is my fastest too." Trent said watching Derric quickly make a gap between them. A minute later, Derric came out the forest to the path that led to Trent's house, he decided to go back to normal speed and wait for Trent to get close. 25 seconds later, Trent comes speeding out the forest as Derric thought "Hm, I think he just got a bit faster, epic." Derric speeds up to keep a decent lead on Trent. As he gets about 20 feet away from Trents porch, he starts doing flips in the air, lands facing Trent, being 2 feet away from the porch, then falls back with his eyes closed as Phantress appears behind him and he falls into her arms, eyes still closed with a smile. "Looks like I win boy!" Derric says with a big smile as Trent gets to them. Trent looks at Phantress with confusion "Can I help you?" he asked as Derric cut in "No no no, it's the other way around. I ASKED her to come here, so can you show us please?" He asks Phantress as she gives Trent a stern look "Why did that sound a bit hostile Trent?" She said. Trent replies "Other than the fact that I, personally, don't know you, you're randomly at my house and naturally I'm very protective of my personal things and my privacy. With that being said, I do apologize for my tone."
Phantress smiles "It's no big deal, I kind of figured you would get defensive. You live in a secluded area, you don't tell people where you live and you just happen to see a random person appear who you don't even know, your reaction's a given. As for your question Derric," She lets him fall as he quickly recovers to his feet with a slight frown "There's a rule that's been in place for longer than I can remember. Members of different factions can be friends, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but we don't share our secrets with each other, it's almost like an unwritten, forbidden rule. The way we train, might not be the same way his faction trains and after centuries of tradition, you just don't mess with it. Lockpick, if YOU want to train, I will take you but Trent, I'm sorry I won't take you. Our kind of training would require us to reveal secrets only members of our Order know, and you being a Spider, I can't allow that. Raven should be here soon to take you anyway." Trent, puzzled, said "Wait what? I didn't even call him, plus how did you know that?" Phantress smiled "You can say I have great eye-sight." And as she finished Raven appeared "Tex, I have a message for you." Raven starts using his aura to contact him "My First Master felt you... unlock something. Show me please, but not here. We talk and when they leave, we wait and leave a bit later." Trent didn't respond, instead he said to Phantress "Will he be back before 10 ish? Today is pool night and I don't want him having an excuse to run." They laughed as Derric said "Hell, I'll make sure I'm back by 9 sharp, pre-gaming is a must after all." Trent nodded as Derric and Phantress left. Trent used his aura to talk with Raven "When I was unconscious, I felt like I was living someone else's life from the past, FAR in the past, is that normal Mentor?" Raven said nothing, he just stared at him.
Trent nodded as he did the handsign, Raven immediately knew what Trent learned out of nowhere, as Trents swords started to glow. Trent turned facing away from Raven and threw one, as it went a few meters, then returned back to him. "It was the first person who created this, I was in his body." Raven was astonished "Most people go through weeks of practice trying to learn this. How long did it take you to get it right?" Trent thought for a second "After I got back into my own body, it was like I knew it for years, I'm not sure how long it took, but when I felt myself returning, it was as if I never left, a few seconds tops." Raven nodded and paced back and forth thinking and then he asked "May we go inside? I have some things I have to tell you. It'll shed a lot more light to your situation." Trent nodded "Of course, think of this house as your own Mentor."
As they went inside, Trent noticed his house was completely clean, like someone has been taking good care of it while he was away. He smelled a certain fragrance he knew, "Is Chasity in here?" he thought to himself as he gestured to the couch "Please, make yourself comfortable. I just have to check one thing." Raven nods and takes his place on the couch and removes his mask, he uses aura to talk to Trent "Someone's in here, a female, do you know her?" Trent called out loud "Chasity? Are you in here?" From upstairs he hears "TRENT! You're ok! Thank goodness! Why haven't you called?? I haven't seen you in two days you jerk!" She comes speeding downstairs and stops at the bottom, "Oh, I didn't know you had company." She examines the dark haired assassin on the couch "Is this his leader?" She thought to herself as Trent responded "Yeah, this is my… teacher-" Raven cut in, "Yes, my name is Marquis, it is a pleasure to meet you. Trent, you never told me your wife was so beautiful you secretive romantic you." He says as he shakes Chasity's hand. Chasity chuckles as Trent nervously says "She's not my wife! She's a really good friend of mine." Raven and Chasity sit down on opposite sides of the couch and Raven gestures Trent to sit in-between them, "So, Chasity was it?" She nods as Raven continues "Do you know your boyfriends profession? Trent didn't even get the chance to correct him as Chasity says "Yeah, I know a bit about what he does. Is this why you're here? I can leave if you need me to."
Raven responds "No no, it's fine really. Now I don't have a reason to tip-toe around the subject. Trent, I want to give you some insight on what I believe to be, the most interesting discovery I've made about you or anyone in a long time. Now, I have no proof but your skills, I believe you possess the soul of one of the Mystery One's, the soul of your ancestor. The Mystery One's were the very first to train in this Order, they built this Order literally from the ground up. They were around even before my First Master. To be precise, he was very young when the Mystery One's were around and eventually, they trained with him, creating more secrets in the process." Raven gets up and paces back and forth in front of the two of them and continues, "They were the ones who learned all about aura. In a time where aura was everywhere but no one knew how to control it, how to unlock it, how to USE it to their advantage, the Mystery Ones dedicated themselves for that knowledge to be passed down to the future members of their Order, OUR Order. They literally put their lives on the line, on a daily basis, to unlock these secrets and with every failure or death, they made a ravine worth of progress, never letting one of their fallen brethren's sacrifice go to waste, never letting a fail stop them from unlocking its secret. When I was first initiated, I had... episodes as well. I was in my ancestors' body but he wasn't very skilled, I had to put extra effort in to surpass what he was trying to learn. All he did was give me a small guidance on how to control my aura, how to use that skill and much more. The fact that your ancestor CREATED or at least helped DEVELOPE what you just learned means you have more potential that I thought was possible. Old Master must have seen it, your potential I mean, but even he was surprised at what he felt from you. He asked me to explain to you why you're seeing what you're seeing, experiencing rather. The next thing he wanted me to tell you, is to NOT use that skill until you get back from your assignment. Disobeying will have serious consequences. Also, you can't tell our secrets to anyone yet. Do you understand Trent?" Trent nodded his head but used aura to continue the conversation "Did Old Master say those EXACT words?" Raven responded back with his aura "Word for word."
"So will he let us know when I can share our secrets? And to WHO?" Raven thought for a second, then said "I don't know, but eventually you will be the one he'll call on when he wants you to know something, I won't be playing messenger for much longer. You have the potential to climb our ranks quickly." Chasity sat in the quiet room, looking at the two assassins, she thought to herself "They're just sitting there staring at each other, it looks as if they're having a deep conversation but why aren't they talking?" She breaks the silence "So, will you be taking him for a long time? And is there any way I can come?" Trent looked at her "I don't want you coming with me, it's far too dangerous for someone without experience. I couldn't live with myself if I got you hurt in any way." Raven cuts in "Chasity, I'll make sure my pupil returns home to you safe and sound, if anyone can, it's definitely me. As for us Trent, your training will consist of you meeting the various people that keep us in tip top shape. I will be sending you out to collect supplies for the family once you get back, so them seeing you with me right now, won't cause any complications for you in the near future. Trent nodded and stood up turning to Chasity and said "I'm going to be gone for a bit, but later on Derric and I are planning on going to play pool, you should join us." She gets up and kisses Trent on the cheek "Nah, you can go have fun with him, I've been working a lot of hours so I think I'm going to take this downtime to relax at home, maybe take a bubble bath and just lounge around. I'll see you tomorrow won't I?" She asked Trent as he responded "Nope, you'll see me later tonight. Our plans can get put on halt for another day." She smiles and nods her head, as she leaves Trents house.
"So, I think Widow might be jealous," Raven says to Trent with a small smirk on his face and continues "seems like you two are pretty serious." Trent laughs a bit "Mentor, come on. Do you really think Widow's into me?" Raven shrugs "You don't have to heed my words, I've only known her for a few years and initiated her, trained her, got to know her body language, so what would I know right? Anyway, let's get moving, I have something to do in a few hours." They left Trents house and as Trent closed his door, a car pulls up and the driver gets out and opens the back door for them, saying nothing. Trent looks at Raven, then at the black car with tinted windows, Raven looks at Trent and laughs "We don't just run around all day you know, sometimes we move in style. Plus we can't make it suspicious for our extended family." Trent nods, gets in and sees two sets of clothes on hangers, "Choose whichever you want and pass me the one you don't take please." Raven says. It was two suits, a black suit with purple and gold trim and another black suit with light blue stripes running down it, Trent decided to take the blue one since Ravens assassin outfit has purple on it, as he passes it to his Mentor. Raven starts taking his assassin outfit off as he says "Don't get the wrong idea, I don't like you that way." Trent chuckles "Don't worry, you're not my type anyway. So can I ask where our first destination is?" Raven replies "Well, first off, I need to introduce you to our personal driver. I trained with him at one point, but he grew tired of the life but as a dedicated Spider, he still services us with transportation and the occasional information."
The driver looks in the rear view and nods at Trent "I'm Germ, pleasure to meet the talk of the Spiders." Trent waves as he responds "Tex.". Raven went on "Ok, now the first set of supplies I'm going to take you to, is our food source. Remember those grapes you were eating and how I said they have special properties?" Trent nods, "Well, I'm going to introduce you to him and then we'll leave. I'll be doing that with every stop just so they can familiarize themselves with you." Trent nodded but asked "Is this so important we had to do this now? Not that I have anything planned, it just seems pointless." Raven and Germ laughed as Raven says "You haven't been here long enough to know, but just keep in mind, anything I do DEFINETELY isn't pointless, and I have a reason for it all. Moving without reason, can turn to deaths without reason, remember that." Trent studied what he just heard "I will Mentor." They arrive at their first stop, Felix's Supermarket. "Hey, I shop here pretty often. Felix is NOT a Spider!" he exclaims, looking at Raven surprised. Raven had his smile on as Germ opened the door, "Keep the car running, in and out trips today." He said to Germ who nodded. They went inside pass the lady cashier, "Well hey there Marquis and Trent! I had no clue you two knew each other, small world huh?" She said with a smile as they walked. Raven laughed and responded "Yeah, he just got transferred into my History class. Me and his family go way back so I decided to take him under my wing as my pupil. Is Felix home today?" She pointed to the back "Thank you Marianne, have a great day!" "You too!" Trent's whole view on the world was turning upside down "Is SHE an assassin? No, maybe yes? Were they talking in code?" Trents mind was flooded with questions. They got to the back of the door and stopped at a wooden door, Raven did a special knock as they heard "It's open!" Raven and Trent went inside the office, a short tanned man with slick backed hair and a nice suit stood up to greet his guests with a handshake.
"RA(Y)! I was expecting your visit, how is everything? Who's this you brought in here?" He shakes Ravens hand then holds his hand out in front of Trent as Raven responds "This here is Trent, aka Tex. He's my new pupil so I decided he should at least show his face at the usual's, just so you can know him." Trent shakes his hand "What's up?" "Nothing much, I'm Felix nice to meet you." "Same." Felix continues "So, are you going to be making the pick-ups from now on?" Raven cuts in "He will be, every pick up will be by him. Payment will be handled in the usual manner." Felix studies Trent for a bit "He strikes me as a bit wet behind the ears, there's a certain something about him that gives me faith in him but he comes off strong as a new-born." Raven smirks "Don't let the looks fool you, he's exceptional. Tell him about your merchandise and how it comes to be if you will." Felix nods "Well, I'll keep this history lesson short and sweet. I provide beverages and snacks to your organization by uncommon, ancient means. What is it that I provide specifically? Mostly fruits, artificial foods, like chips, yes I know, sounds crazy but that unhealthy eat turns mostly healthy through this and beverages from fruits, like orange juice, apple juice etc. etc. Questions?"
Trent's face had slight fascination on it "How do you go about obtaining it?" Felix smiled "You obviously weren't listening. I get it by uncommon, ancient methods." Raven pats Trents back "Don't worry, soon enough you'll know but that's for a later date. Anyway Felix, you take it easy, we have a few more places to stop before this day's over." Felix gets up and shakes both of their hands before escorting them out of the store. Raven and Trent get back into the car and take a drive to the edge of town, it was a small farm with no sign at the front. Germ pulls into the dirt road leading to a barn with open doors. "Sit tight for a second, this usually gets pretty hairy." Raven told Trent as he steps out the car and slowly approaches the open doors. "Susanne! It's Marquis! I'm walking up to the barn door now and I have a new face I'd like you to meet, so don't shoot us, he's pretty valuable and he's almost as cute as I am." Raven peaks inside the barn to see not Susanne, but her niece Alice, sitting down in front of an empty stall with her head down. Raven signals Trent to join him. Raven starts approaching Alice "Hey Alice, what's wrong? You seem disturbed." Alice looks up at Raven with a depressed face "Hey Marquis... who's that behind you?" Trent slowly walked around the corner, cautiously, like how he observed his Mentor do and introduced himself "I'm Trent but I go by Tex as well, whichever you prefer." Alice waves and goes back to sulking as Raven says "Soo, what's wrong? An empty stall, a crazy grandmother that's not already here with a rifle to Trent and a sad girl, I can tell when there's a huge problem." Trent almost snaps his neck turning around, paranoid of an old lady with a rifle creeping behind him.
Alice responds "Well, someone stole our horse "Firebrand" a few hours ago and not only has she not returned, she told me that if I left here she'd throw me out. So not only do I have to sit here and worry myself to death, I can't even do anything to help!" Raven looked at her puzzled and then shook his head and chuckled a bit "Yeah, I forgot you still don't know who I am. Listen Alice, tell you what, I'll send my pupil behind me to go and fetch Firebrand and Feisty and bring them back home pronto. Meanwhile, I'm going to take you out of the dark about who I REALLY am, well, "we" is more like it. Deal?" Alice wipes her tears away and nods her head "yes". Trent walks next to Alice and places a hand on her shoulder as he takes the floor "Alice am I right?" She nods, then Trent continues "Alice, do you know where your grandma went? Like a specific place?" Alice shakes her head "No, the only thing I can tell you is they went north-east of the farm. There's an open plain that way and not too much farther there's a huge mountain. If they aren't camped in the plains then they must be in the mountain. I've heard rumors of that mountain containing multiple tunnels that leads to God knows where. I'm sorry I can't be of more help." Trent gives her a warm smile "Nonsense, you've gave me more than enough information to go off of." Raven steps in "Yeah, you did and you can believe he'll bring them both back home safe and sound in no time, he is an over-achiever after all." Trent darts out the barn and starts heading north-east. A few minutes later, after running up a kind of steep hill, he comes across the large plains Alice talked about, Trent squats down to keep his visibility low, staring into the distance of the plush green plains and crimson skies, the sun at his back. He notices a small campfire far off, he squints and he can just make out a few moving bodies, 2 walking, 1 sitting and another laid down, bound by ropes, next to the tied horse outside the tent. "Must be them..." He thought to himself and just as he was about to start moving, he gets a terrible headache. It's so bad that he falls over and passes out.
Trent wakes up, not as himself. "VINCEEEEEEENNNNTTTT!!!" A lady screams, as a young boy flips over railings, off a gigantic tower, freefalling from hundreds of feet in the air, still laughing, just to be grabbed and pulled to safety by a large spider. Vincent and his companion laughed and ran into a tower nearby, stepped onto a platform and were instantly teleported to the ground floor, where they quickly ran into the forest. After a few minutes of running, they get to a huge rock as the spider puts his fangs on 3 different places, the rock moves revealing spiral stairs. They make it all the way down, still laughing, as Vincent puts his bag of goodies on the table "Zixaire, do you want some bread? I also have some rabbits, pheasants, chickens and candy but I'm going to be selfish with the candy if you don't mind." Vincent laughs as the Spider named Zixaire scurries over and replies "JACKPOT!! Throw some rabbit my way, is it cooked?" Vincent pulls out a live rabbit "Come on Zix, give me more credit, I know how and what my best friend eats." He tosses it into Zixaire's personal web he had already made and continues "Ok, now that we have food, I think it's time for more pressing matters." Zixaire cuts in "To pay that lady back we just stole from?" Vincent puts on an embarrassed face "Well yeah, but I meant for the Order. Can't pay her back if we don't do our job can we?"
Zix nods as Vince continues "So, you said you unlocked something new? How did you do it?" Vince climbs on Zixaire's back as they start going up the stairs "Honestly, I don't know. One day I just woke up with new knowledge, I knew how to do it flawlessly like I've been at it for years. Best part is, I KNOW exactly how to teach you it, although I hope you can get it fast. Every other skill I've shown, you got it pretty fast so I'm sure this is the same." They get back outside as Zix closes his cave "Right, let's get started." As Zix finished his sentence, he bites Vince on his arm. "HEY WHAT THE HELL MAN!? WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Vincent exclaims, rubbing his arm "I thought we were cool, why are you trying to poison me!?" And just as he finished yelling, he starts feeling weird, lighter, stronger, seeing a new outlook on the old world he knew and all of a sudden it became almost like a new one. Zixaire was smiling "That's the only way I knew how to share this gift with you. I've been walking around like this for a week now." Vincent stares at Zixaire in amazement "This is incredible." Zixaire takes a few steps back "It gets better." Zixaire unleashes a potent aura on Vincent "What do you feel?" Vincent had his eyes closed absorbing the feeling, getting accustomed to it "Warm sun rays." Zixaire nods his head and quickly changes that good aura, into deadly blood thirsty aura, as Vincent snaps back into reality and unknowingly unleashes an equally powerful aura, Zixaire stops his and smiles "That's one strong aura you have and now I can finally teach you the skill I learned, young grasshopper." Vincent's eyes burned of Amethyst "What the hell was that Zixaire… why did it feel like you wanted to eat me..." Vincent was on edge. Calm but scared that his best friend wanted to devour him, as Zixaire responds "I did that so I could unlock your own aura. Everyone in this world has aura, some can unlock it by themselves, like I did, and some just need a helpful boost, like you. Warm aura doesn't awaken your aura but it does loosen, it just lets the unlocker know if he'll be able to force aura open within the unlockee. You force someone's aura open by sending a strong bad aura into them, which startles them, the already loosened aura lock then gets broken and you unleash a similar aura in return. Now that it's opened, all you have to do is focus a certain feeling into your eyes and WHAM! Aura is projected. In your case, I gave you some of my aura also to mix within yours, so I'm hoping that as we grow, we'll unlock new things about aura as a team, so then we learn all we can twice as fast, that's why I bit you. I also want to use this on our faction, we'll be unstoppable then."
Vincent nods his head, amazed, intrigued and confused but decides to try his new skill out on his friend. He sends a relaxing aura at him as Zix replies "Feels like we're just hanging out in the lair, a relaxing aura." Vince uses a playful aura as Zix laughs "Feels like what we just did to Saiayma." Vince nods, "Awesome so this is what you wanted to show me?" Zixaire gestures Vince to get on his back "There's one more secret you have to learn before we set out. I don't know much of this whole aura thing yet but this skill is epic." They swing to the top of a tower overlooking the ancient stone city that spreads for miles. The stone had a brownish hue; the town had plush exotic trees never before seen by Trent's time and a river that split the town almost clean in half. It was dusk, as both suns started setting, one big blue sun and a red sun of equal size, that turned the darkening sky into a mesmerizing shade of purple and chasing those two suns, from the opposite side, was an amethyst moon with a blue belt around it and inside that belt, orange lines that looked like waves. The stars shined brightly over the quiet city as Zixaire points out someone in an open window "Look at Avior there." The man Avior was at his workbench hammering a sword he just forged, Vincent nods "What about him?" Zixaire continues "This next trick I'm going to show you has the ability to make people not skilled in aura, bend to your will. The first step, is to pinpoint your aura into his brain but it can't be too much, it has to be a steady amount, bit by bit, until you can feel his aura. Too much and you'll unlock him, then he'll spot us. After you can feel his aura, you have a number of options, for example, you can imagine a wild animal, transmit that from your aura into his and then the next person he sees will be that animal or you can make him distrust his closest allies by throwing doubt in him. The options are endless, watch."
After his sentence, Zixaire almost immediately responds with "Done. His wife should be coming in any moment now and when she does, it'll be good." He chuckles with a mischievous grin and right on cue, the door opens and Aviors wife enters. "Liam! Come here my love and give me a kiss!" Avior jumps up and tries hugging and kissing his wife, who had on a disgusted and angry face "YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME!? AND WITH A MAN AT THAT!!!" Her face was furious but Avior didn't budge, he kept trying to kiss his "love". "Now I stop my aura and..." Avior looks around puzzled, "SMACK!!" His wife hits him hard "HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON ME WITH LIAM OF ALL PEOPLE!!" She yells as Avior yells in return "What do you mean!? I DON'T LIKE MEN! AND I'VE ALWAYS STAYED FAITHFUL!" Vincent looked in amazement as they swung away and busted out laughing "ZIX!!! That was great! I HAVE to try this out as soon as possible!" Zix responds "Good, because you're going to try it out on the target, no better way to train than doing it on a serious assignment. Remember, too much and you'll open his aura. If that happens, he'll get stronger, you felt your power increase when I opened yours right?" Vince remembered it vividly "Yeah, my speed increased, my thought process became more focused, more clear, past problems I thought were difficult, seem like childs play and a bit insignificant now." They made it to the edge of town as Zix landed and started darting through the forest "Exactly, unlocking aura has a bunch of advantages. Even though we're so young, I feel as if we have the knowledge of the Elders, I'd dare say we surpass even them. When I bestow these powers to them though, I wonder what they'll feel. Do you think they'll approve Vince? What if they want to kill me so they can find out HOW I got this gift?" Vince was already on the same page as him before he even said it aloud, he pats Zix "You're my best friend Zix, I'm not going to let them operate on you. If they do it to you, they have to do it to me but honestly, I think if we both come at them logically and explained to them the advantages of our gift and how much we can benefit from this, they'll come around." Vincent didn't say this out loud but he thought to himself "And if not, then we make our own city, our own group of Assassins, our own home." Zixaire had the same thought in his head and they both felt what each other were thinking, as they moved as one aura. A few seconds after Vincent finished his sentence, they arrive at the edge of a huge cliff overlooking a camping ground and their target "You're up V. Remember, only a bit at a time." Zixaire whispers as Vincent nods and closes his eyes "Should we take him hostage or dispose of him?" Zixaire thinks for a second "He shouldn't have information we can use, get rid of him, and pick his brain just to make sure."
He relaxes himself completely, opens his eyes and sends a sharp strip of aura into his target, slowly pouring it into his head, until he feels it meshing with another. He stops feeding him and that relaxing beam of aura turns into a calm, deadly, untrusting, intellectual aura. Zixaire looks at the different emotions in the aura, impressed he can send even amounts of each without throwing the target overboard. At first, their target was laughing and joking with his crew, after Vincent's "gift", the man became quiet. He walks into a tent and calls for one of his men to join him for a moment. A few seconds later, Vincent's puppet walks out with his blade behind his back, the tip coated in blood. No one but Vince and Zix seen it. The puppet walked over to the remaining two people, still laughing and sliced them both clean through the neck and finished with himself. "Well?" Zixaire asked "He has a grand treasure not even his team knew about, mountains of gold. He was planning on killing them off soon anyway. As for anything to help our Order...." He gave Zix a serious look "There's this Ancient tomb he's been reading about. Apparently, it has something to do with aura." They knew what they had to do, as the world started turning black.
Trent immediately snapped back into his body, his eyes burning but he felt like he was hearing someone else's thoughts. He quickly cut off any thought of anything that was going on, unknowingly, and then proceeded to turn his aura into the exact replica of Vincent's. He made short work of the small group of bandits, as he cuts his aura off. He looks around, the sky looked exactly how it looked before the dream and he thinks to himself "No time passed? This didn't feel so hard when I was Vincent...I don't know how I did it, but it's clear I need to practice this before trying it again." He quickly darted over to the camp, which was easily 100+ feet away, in a matter of seconds. "Ms. Susanne, I'm Marquis' pupil Trent, I go by Tex also. Considering the circumstances, it must be great to see each other." he says, while cutting her ropes. Susanne laughs "HAH! I see you're a smartass like Raven too, great. Thanks for saving me Vex, how's my granddaughter Alice?" "Well, its Tex-" He corrected, while he un-hooked Firebrand and handed his rope to Susanne "-But it was no trouble at all. As for Alice, Raven stayed behind to watch over her and keep her safe. They're waiting for us inside the barn." Susanne nods as she gets on Firebrand "Damn right she is! She better not have moved. Well let's get going Hex, stop wasting time!" She says as they take off toward the barn. Trent puts on a blank face and yells "IT'S-" He starts, but sighs "-Whatever." He scans the camp for a second, trying to see if there was anything worth looking at or taking "Nothing." he thinks to himself before he dashes to easily catch up with firebrand and Susanne. They lock eyes for a second, as Trent waves and speeds up a tiny bit. Susanne whispers to herself "Holy shit this boy's quick on his feet."
They reach the barn a few minutes later, the orange sun with crimson skies at their backs and Susanne on Firebrand, looking like she's the hero, with Trent standing next to them. "GRANDMA!" Alice yells and hugs her grandmother "I told you I'd get our horse back didn't I?" Susanne says as she hugs her granddaughter with a warm smile, she continues "Although, I wouldn't have made it here without the help of your Pupil Raven, Vex was a huge help but right before he got there, the bandit boss went bonkers and killed his people before taking his own life. Weirdest thing I've ever seen." Raven looked at Trent with intrigued eyes "Is that right?" Trent cut in "Susanne, I told you my name is Tex, with a T." She puts on a puzzled face "No, I'm positive you said Vex, I'm excellent with names. I might be old but I'm not deaf yet." Alice agreed "She's always been able to hear a name of something or someone once and remember it for years." Trents mouth drops "So you've been messing with me this whole time!?" Raven cuts in "Why would you say your name's Vex Tex? I mean if that's the name you want I'll call you that but in my opinion, it sounds like a female name Vex." Raven says with a small smile. Trent yells "Don't entertain this!" They all laugh as Susanne says "I'm just teasing Tex, that was an excellent show you put on, however and whatever you did. Anyway, why did you boys drop by in the first place? And if it was for a "friendly" visit with Alice, I have Heather close by." Raven laughs nervously "No, no there's no need for Heather, we came by so you could familiarize yourself with my new member and courier." She nods "Ah, so you're going to be picking up the items from now on eh? I'm guessing he needs the rundown on what we provide correct?" Raven smiles "As sharp as you are beautiful." Alice chuckles as Susanne rolls her eyes "Shut up fool. Anyway Tex, I provide you with meats and dairy. Where I get it from isn't important at this time but eventually you'll learn the secrets. Alice provides you with vegetables, wheat and other herbs that grow. Does that cover everything?" Raven nods "Yup, I can't think of anything else to add. Since we're finished here, I guess it's time to take our leave then." Susanne shakes Raven and Trents hand and Alice gives them a hug.
They return to the backseat of the car and head out "When she said other herbs that grow, does she mean coffee, and tea?" Trent asked Raven as he responded "Yes, whatever you can think of we can get with some type of magical property. Those three people you met today are our lifeline, so not only do we need to be in constant face to face contact with them but we're obligated to repay their kindness by helping them with whatever, whenever." Trent nods "Understood. Who's Heather by the way?" Raven laughs "That's the nickname she gave her shotgun. If you ever hear that name be sure you make yourself invisible for a few minutes, she has impeccable aim." Trent laughs "I'll keep that in mind, so where's our next destination?" Raven checks his watch "I know this must be incredibly fun for you, I can see how eager you are to learn about our family however, it's almost 8 and you have to get ready for your night don't you?" Trent's eyes widen "Oh yea! I completely forgot about tonight. Germ, can I-" and before he could finish Germ responds "Don't worry, I knew where we were going before anyone said anything. We're on route as we speak." Raven looks at Trent "So, exactly what happened at the bandit camp?" Trents face gets serious "I had the same situation happen like when you took me to my training spot. I was reliving someone's life, a small boy by the name of Vincent. His friend, who happened to be a Spider I can't remember the name, gave him the gift of aura and taught me how to control others and bend them to my will. When I came to, I was already using the skill on the leader, unknowingly, and the exact aura Vincent used on his target, I used on mine. It's a difficult skill; can you help me master it?" Raven's expression was simply amazement as he said "I haven't learned that skill, so as much as I'd want to help, I can't. When you do master it though, and I know you will, I hope you'll at least teach me how to do it." Trent was lost in thought "A skill of my own huh? What else will I learn from these dreams I wonder? I'll be more than happy to teach you it, when I hold a better grasp of it." He finally responds. Raven smiles as he stares out his window "That may not be possible. Some of us have abilities others can't grasp, maybe you can't quite explain how you do it or maybe, depending how hard the skill is, they themselves just can't grasp it, you never know. I will take the lesson anyway."
"Well what about you? What unique skill do you have?" Trent asked his Mentor. Raven smiles "I have a few most can't do. My favorite one though, is the ability to use my aura to stick to walls. It sounds easy to master but somehow people don't get it and I've explained it to the greatest of my ability. I'll explain it to you and then you can try it, if you learn it I'll teach you another." Trent nods as Raven continues "First, you must know that aura doesn't JUST come from your eyes, even though that's where it's strongest, aura can flow out of every pour on your body. So you concentrate the aura outwards from the soles of your feet and manipulate that aura to become sticky. As you're trying to get the aura out, you should feel your aura flowing through your body, down to your legs and finally to your feet, then release it. Only at a small amount though, if someone who's unknowingly skilled in aura is around, too much aura will be visible." The whole time Raven spoke, Trent was practicing. He somewhat got it, but he couldn't figure out how to make his aura stick to the floor as he lifted up his feet, confused, he asks "So how do you make your aura sticky then?"
"That's the trick, think of the stickiest substance you know and imagine that substance is your aura. It sounds easy but now you have to move that sticky aura throughout your body and to your feet. So many problems start coming into play at that moment, if your aura gets stuck and you're unable to make it flow, you can lose a body part, if that substance isn't sticky enough, you'll fall flat on your face, if your aura isn't strong enough, you'll fall." As Raven finished, Trent was on his side looking satisfied as he moved his leg back and forth "Did you get it?" Raven asked as Trent nodded "Yeah wasn't too difficult. My aura is a quick acting rubber, from liquid to solid in no time at all basically; I just need to try it out on an actual wall to see if it works." Raven was impressed "Excellent. The next skill I know, that MOST can't do is projecting a clone of myself. That's a later session but feel free to take it upon yourself to practice it." Trent responded, "I will, as for my skill, you obviously know how to open peoples aura so it shouldn't be that difficult to get the hang of. You start off by pouring a bit of neutral aura into them until you start meshing with theirs, once it's in that spot, cut off all your thoughts and send that neutral beam of aura into a frenzy." Ravens face turns serious "Hm... sounds easy but I know it's very misleading. I'll give it a go tomorrow." As they finished their conversation, Germ arrived at Trent's house "We have arrived." He said as he got out of the vehicle and opened the door on Trent's side. "Trent." Raven said as Tex replied "Yeah?"
"You plan on leaving tomorrow don't you?" Trent nodded his head as Raven continues "I'll make sure I give you a small care package before your departure. Remember what your Old Master said about that skill." Trent thought back for a second and nodded "Don't worry, I'll make sure I keep it concealed." They waved at each other as Germ and Raven drove off and Trent headed inside. As he got in, he plopped down on his couch and checked the time "8:20, four hours overdue, time to unwind." He thought to himself as he started to roll him a plane.