1x1 Private

[Paniculus Farctus]

"I promise," Reiko agreed, smiling as she kissed Kayden gently.

The next few weeks flew by quicker than Reiko could wrap her head around. She was learning so many things so fast, and improving at such a rapid rate, that she couldn't remember much of what else happened. There had been no news spreading about any sort of threatening rebellion, which she did not think worrying, since she knew that they would attack at just the right moment. However, she had not met anyone of the other rebellion members, which was what she considered strange.

That changed one day in the early morning. Reiko was pulling on her robe to go to class with Hitori, when out of nowhere, a person barreled through the window and tackled her to the ground, causing her to cry out in terror. It was Cecil, obviously grinning though his mouth was unseen.

"Good morning, you must be Reiko!" he said, looking down at her.

"You're Ryuji's cousin, aren't you?" Reiko gasped in reply. "Why are you dressed like a man?"

"Aww, darn, you found me out," Cecil laughed, scratching the back of her head."I guess it doesn't work on family members."

[The Gamers King]

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Kayden Yamamoto

As the weeks passed the influx of new recruits was slow. Winzer had only roughly 20 new recruits and that was hardly enough to make a rebellion. "You know what the real problem is?" Winzer said moving his face strangely close to Kaydens while the rest of his so-called rebellion sat around the shop eating ramen. "YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN ASSHO!" Winzer said hitting him on the back of the head with a wok and knocking him to the ground. Kayden simply laughed and brushed the back of his head which now had several bumps.

However the crowd of recruits in the room didn't laugh, they only nodded their heads in agreement. Gigan too was amongst them and was also agreeing. "We really need to strike at the Imperial army in a way that sends a message that we are back." Gigan said leaning up against the wall, the rest of the recruits muttering in agreement.

"You know that Heira Firebreed is in town, you know, one of the 12!" one of the recruits said from the back. "Hey ya! If we kill her, people will know we are back and stronger than ever!" Gigan said looking around as if for approval. "Ya but she still one of da twelve stupid... She no die so easy." Winzer said leaning up against the counter. "I can do it." Kayden said smiling. Kayden knew he was more than capable of taking on one member of the 12 alone and by herself, the rest of the room however looked quite astonished. "By yo-self? What are you retarded?" Winzer said grabbing his wok as if he was about to hit Kayden upside the head again. "No, I can kill her, does anyone know where she is?" Kayden said still smiling. "Well I heard she was at the imperial palace meeting with the emperor himself." one of the recruits said shakily.

Getting up from his stool Kayden opened the door to the shop and made his way outside when Gigan called after him. "Hey where you going?!" Gigan shouted. Kayden turned and smiled back at him "To kill her, what else?" Kayden said as he leapt from the balcony they were on, making his way towards the imperial palace.

Jumping from ledge to ledge he finally arrived at the palace where the imperials were indeed holding a precession. There were probably 50 imperial guardsmen surrounding several carriages as hundreds of citizens watched. Ahead of the caravan was a chariot manned by an imperial guard and the passenger was none other than Heira Firebreed. Her eyes were dark and focused on the road ahead, her long black hair flowing in the wind. She was wearing a pure black combat outfit that was heavily dressed with red and gold robes. She had one sword at her side that had a dark red sheath with a fire symbol for a guard and a black hilt.

Kayden continued jumping from ledge to ledge making his way in front of the caravan. Up ahead, the crowd had split and the emperor and empress were waiting at the gates surrounded by a vast number of imperial elite guardsmen. The elite guardsmen wore pure white and gold trimmed robes and all carried white sheathed swords and flew white banners, unlike the regular dark blue and black outfits of the regular guards.

Just as the lead chariot was coming out of the crowd of citizens, Kayden walked slowly out of the crowd into the middle of the street in front of the caravan, causing it to come to a immediate halt. Kayden's illusion made him appear to be an old man covered in a brown cloak. Heira stepped off her chariot and made her way to Kayden, signaling the driver to wait. "Old man, who do you think you are? Get out of the way or I will kill you." Hiera said drawing her sword which erupted into flames, then began to simmer down until a steady flame held itself around the blade.

"Strong words from someone so weak." Kayden said pulling his sword from behind his back. Looking closer at the sheath Hiera's eyes opened wide with terror "Im.. possible..." Hiera stammered eyes locked on Kayden's sword. Kayden's sheath was unmistakable, it was a dark blue with a gold trim and had a single white lightning bolt going down the side. The blade had a aquamarine hilt and a lightning bolt shaped guard. Hiera looked as if she was about to feint as Kayden drew his sword and moved into an attack stance. Waving his hand over his face, the illusion faded and the young and powerful body of Kayden appeared. "Boo." was all Kayden said before he came charging at Hiera at lightning speed. "NO!" Hiera screamed swinging her blade forward causing a massive wave of fire to erupt in front of her incinerating several guards and citizens.

Moments later the wave of fire dispersed and Hiera fell to her knees, her stomach split open. Kayden standing behind her and now sheathing his sword again. "Why... me..." she muttered falling to the ground in a pool of blood. The crowd behind stammered in shock and the imperial guardsmen ran to assault Kayden who leapt high into the air and vanished back into the dense city.

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[Paniculus Farctus]

Laughing, Cecil climbed off of Reiko, letting her retie her robe. "By the way," she said, letting down her short hair and pulling down her face-cloth, "how's your training going?"

"How do you know about that?" Reiko asked, a little surprised.

"You know me, I know everything."

"Well, I think Hitori thinks me more competent now." It was true; the past few days, Hitori was leaving Reiko to do more training by herself, and she was defeating many of the other students in sword-to-sword combat with relative ease. Indeed, she was progressing.

"Good, 'cause you're going to need it soon," Cecil frowned, not sparing any details. "I've been doing some work, and this is just inbetween you, me, and soon Kayden...but one of the emperor's henchmen is doing his own spying. He's looking for more survivors of the village fire and ambush. I mean, even I was surprised when I found out you were alive, and your existence is pretty unknown, so if someone is looking for you...well, that means that there's an informer somewhere."

Reiko paused, brushing some dirt off of Eagle's hilt. "My brother is the one who sold us out," she said. "Perhaps he is the one doing the spying."

"I thought I saw him around," Cecil nodded. "Little jerk. He's on my hit list now."

Just then, the dull roar from the excitment that Kayden had caused reached through the window. Cecil glanced out, then grinned. "Great, a ruckus," she said. "Looks like our rebellion is starting to work."

[The Gamers King]

___________________________________________________________________________

Kayden Yamamoto

Kayden stepped lightly through the door to Winzers shop and was greeted with a look of confusion. "Well that was fast, what did you go to the store and come back to make us feel like idiots?" Gigan said with an angry scowl that was now shared by the rest of the room. Kayden however stood with a big smile on his face as he sat down at the bar. "Saki for everyone Winzer, on me." Kayden said flipping a coin to Winzer who nodded and began making rounds to everyone. Gigan got up and slammed his fist down next to Kayden at the bar, who never stopped smiling. "That's all fine by where did you go?" Gigan said staring into his eyes angrily.

Kayden laughed "I killed her, just like I said I would." sipping his saki slowly. The room was taken back for a second before Gigan spoke up "What do you mean killed her? You were only gone for 15 minutes, are you saying you gathered a group and killed her in 15 minutes?" Gigan said with a bewildered look. "No!" Kayden said laughing "I just jumped down killed her and left." Kayden said with a bright smile on his face. "Someone go and check, NOW!" Gigan commanded several of the recruits who barreled out the door.

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[Paniculus Farctus]

"Wanna go check out the streets?" Cecil grinned, looking back at her cousin. She was already tying her hair back up and pulling up the mask.

Reiko looked uncertain. "Someone will see me."

"That's true, that's probably what they want," Cecil murmured thoughtfully, her sharp eyes glancing back out of the window. She thought, then turned to Reiko, reaching into her pack, producing a plain tan robe. "Take off that robe, and put this on."

Slipping on the fabric, Reiko reached instinctively for Eagle, sheathing it at her side. She tied her hair back into a knot, then followed Cecil out of the room and down out through one of the secret entrances, converging on the busy street.

Grabbing Reiko's wrist, Cecil whirled around to look at her and frowned. "Can't you magick your face to disguise it or something?" she hissed. Reiko cursed softly, remembering and quickly disfiguring it to different face. "Can't stay like this for long, make it quick," she whispered, and Cecil nodded before pulling her out into the crowds.

There were men everywhere, screaming about the assassination. Everyone had seen it with their own eyes, and crazy stories about flying birds and explosions were flying everywhere, but the one consistency was the red sword hilt. It seemed that everyone was talking about it.

"Hoo boy, we're in for it now," Cecil laughed, then gasped as the crowd tightened, pulling her cousin closer to the bar, which she knew was close by. "Come on, let's duck closer in."

It was then that Reiko noticed her brother slipping in the crowd. She hid behind Cecil before remembering that her face was hidden, but still couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at her.

"Let's slip in here," Cecil grinned, pushing open the door and slipping in, pulling Reiko with her.

[The Gamers King]

___________________________________________________________________________

Kayden Yamamoto

After several minutes the men who had been sent out came barreling back through the door panting and sweating. "She's dead! We saw her body!" one of the recruits said gasping for air. Gigan stood up with disbelief in his eye "Are you sure?" Gigan said raising an eyebrow. "We saw her body, and we saw her sword, and the guards were clearing the scene and looking around for the suspect. Reports on the street say some old man killed her, but then some say it was a young warrior, we don't know what to make of it, but she is definitely dead!" the other recruit said causing the room to burst into cheer and another round of saki was passed around.

Getting recruits would be much easier now that the rebellion had accomplished something since their return. However, in the midst of the cheer and happiness, Kayden sat calmly with a smile on his face.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Paniculus Farctus]

Reiko almost gasped as she recognized Kayden in the center of the room, but kept mostly in the shadows as Cecil joined the group of other men. Though she didn't want to ruin the good mood, the news was more important than that.

Bending down, Cecil whispered into Kayden's ear: "The enemy is onto you." before standing up and grinning. "Congrats on the assassination, though! Great job," she smiled, heading up and out of the bar and pulling Reiko with her, disappearing back into the crowds in order to return her to the building.

[The Gamers King]

___________________________________________________________________________

Kayden Yamamoto

Kayden continued smiling even through the news, and when his eyes caught Reiko, even in her illusion, Kayden knew it was her. Suddenly Kaydens smile changed from the big silly one he had on, to a more caring and compassionate one. Her presence always softened him, in ways maybe even she did not understand. "Thank you Reiko." Kayden said gently sipping a cup of saki as he motioned for the masked Reiko to come sit with him.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Paniculus Farctus]

Reiko stiffened, but Cecil pushed her towards him. "Go on," she murmured, her eyes showing the smile that was covered. "I'll catch up with you later."

Making her way to the center of the room, Reiko pulled up a chair next to Kayden and perched on it, looking carefully around herself. "Should I just drop the illusion, since you know who I am?" she muttered to Kayden, feeling the magic slip away from her face anyway.

[The Gamers King]

___________________________________________________________________________

Kayden Yamamoto

Kayden waved his hand across Reiko's face and caused the illusion to wisp away. "You don't have to do anything." Kayden said clasping her hand in his own as the men around them cheered and drank. The following days would be much more hectic, they needed to set up a training camp to get their new recruits trained, and they needed a strategist, someone who could plan out their campaign against the massive imperial army and it's control over the many regions of the land. As of yet, Kayden couldn't bring a single person to mind.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Paniculus Farctus]

Reiko understood Kayden's problems with finding the strategist: Cecil was too aloof to stay down to one job, and Gigan wasn't a good thinker. Neither of them could think widely enough to cover the entire country if needed, and she didn't think she could either. Instead, she focused on her training, ready to help when she was able to.

[The Gamers King]

___________________________________________________________________________

Kayden Yamamoto

The next few weeks passed by quickly as getting the rebellion underway came into full effect. Kayden used secret passages in the palace to get people out of the capital and into the hills where a training camp had been established. Gigan was training all the new recruits that Winzer sent him, and Winzer was getting hundreds of fresh recruits daily. Moving such large numbers out of the city became the most difficult task, often it was done under the cover of night, or in broad daylight in the midst of a crowd. After only a few short weeks thousands of soldiers had been trained in the mountains above the capital. Gigan had even selected a few lieutenants of his own who had begun to train the new recruits in his stead as he coordinated larger matters.

All the while, Kayden had been searching for his master strategist, but he had been having little luck until one day while he was roaming he came upon a large shop selling small figurines shaped like soldiers and archers. Upon closer inspection Kayden realized the figurines were used in a type of strategic board game that by the looks of it, only the nobles could afford. Kayden walked inside the shop which was decorated in hundreds of figurines, and inside there were many men gathered around several tables which had the figurines strewn out across painted parchment maps divided by squares.

"Come to play Conquest stranger?" an old man said walking up to Kayden. "No, only just noticed this place, what is this game old man?" Kayden said with the greatest of curiosity. Giggling cheerily the old man placed his arm around Kayden and showed him to the tables. "This game is called Conquest, two players set the rules of engagement and place their respective armies on the map, then use the movement spaces in order to direct their army, and each unit has a certain range they can attack in, much like in real warfare..." The old man continued on for what seemed like hours explaining all the intricate details of the game, but what was important to Kayden was that this game was almost an exact simulation of what a strategist would practice on the field.

Kaydens fascination with the game became obvious when two identical looking young boys approached him. They both had short brown hair, pale white skin, and square glasses. The only difference between the two boys was one wore a white robe with red trim, and the other a black robe with blue trim. "Would you like to play, sir?" the boy in the black robe said in what seemed an almost arrogant tone. "Oh, I don't really know how to play yet..." Kayden said smiling and rubbing the back of his neck. "We can teach you." the boy in the white robe said fixing his glasses. "But... I have no pieces..." Kayden said trying not to sound rude. "You can borrow my set." the boy in the white robe said pulling out a box from behind his back which opened at the center to reveal a very organized set of figurines. "Well..." Kayden didn't want to sound rude, and this might help him find a strategist. "Alright I suppose I can play." Kayden said laughing and bowing as he took the boys pieces. "Oh... by the way, what're your names?" Kayden asked trying to be polite. "I am Rai." said the boy in the white robe. "and I am Jin, and your name sir?" said the boy in the black robe. "You can call me Yama!" Kayden said smiling, however the boys gave him an odd look, then looked at each other, then back at him "Alright Yama... let's play." Jin said taking a seat over a large map.

Kayden played at the shop everyday for the next week, each day he would lose every match he played against the twins Rai and Jin. He even spent some games aside as they played other men, all of whom they beat. No player had ever beaten Rai and Jin in Conquest even once. They were undefeated and not ashamed to let everyone know it as they constantly talked down to everyone they beat, which sometimes ended in Kayden having to protect them from the less, understanding individuals.

Another week had passed, and even though Kayden could beat everyone in the shop at Conquest, he still could not beat the twins. However, what he had discovered, was that the twins were orphans of a village the imperials had burnt down, they were two of the few survivors that made it out alive, their parents were not so lucky. The shop keeper had taken them in when he found them digging through his trash for food. Kayden couldn't help but spark a conversation with them about it. After having lost the fifth game in a row for the day, Kayden ran his fingers through his hair. "So what would you kids do if you ever lead a real army?" Kayden said slowly putting the pieces back into the box. The two twins looked at each other and shrugged "Probably take over the world, nobody can beat us on even terms." they said in unison. Kayden laughed "And what would you do if you took over the world?" he said playfully. Again looking at each other and shrugging "Remove the imperial army and start a new, less corrupt government for the people, not a government ruled by the greed of the nobles." the twins said again in unison. "And what if someone gave you that opportunity." Kayden said, placing the last piece in the box and shutting it slowly, his tone was serious and his expression cold.

The twins almost didn't know how to react to the question at first, but shook their heads in agreement without speaking "We would take it." they said in unison. Kaydens smile became large and devious, he had found his strategists.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Paniculus Farctus]

With Kayden gone out every day, and Hitori giving her more and more freedom, Reiko found herself bored after finishing her practicing for the day. She would mope around the room, working on her reading skills for more-than-healthy lengths of time or pretending to spar with an invisible enemy.

Eventually, Cecil took pity on her, and started to literally drop by through the window every day. The two of them would talk, and then Cecil would continue on her business.

About a week after the assassination, however, Cecil paused before disappearing out the window. "Come on," she decided, jerking her head out. "I'm going to teach you some stealth work."

And that's what they did. During the day, after they were finished with whatever other routine they had to do, Cecil and Reiko would sneak out of the window and practice the ninja-like skills that Cecil had grown up with. Oftentimes, her younger siblings Nana and Leo would stop by to both help and learn. The four of them formed a great study group.

Reiko learned many things about staying hidden. She learned how to walk silently, even over the creakiest floorboards or the crunchiest leaves. She learned to slow her breathing even when nervous, to avoid detection by heat. Other skills soon followed from those. The acrobatics came more slowly than most other skills, as Reiko had to train herself up first before starting the flips. Cecil was pleased with her fast progress.

"You really are a natural student," she grinned, and Reiko blushed.

[The Gamers King]

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Kayden Yamamoto

Kayden took the twins out of the city and into the rebel encampment to meet the rest of the command staff the next day. As Kayden had expected, they did not get a warm reception. "You are telling me that two children are going to be our strategists... you have to be joking with me..." one of Gigans Lieutenants said in disgust. "Be silent, there must be a reason he brought them, the same reason he picked me and I picked you. I just wish you would explain it better..." Gigan said raising an eyebrow to Kayden. However Kayden simply smiled and said "You will see." Kayden giggled a bit as he moved towards the window of the small wooden hut they had made.

The surrounding area was covered in large canopy trees and their many huts and camps set up around the area where well hidden. They were posted maybe five miles outside the capital and their training operation had quickly become quite large. The death of Hiera rallied many to the support of the rebellion and everyone had had been a supporter of the first rebellion, and the new people who had realized the vast corruption within the current empire rallied to their cause as well. Within a mere two months they had gone from a Ramen Shop filled with rebels to over 50,000 strong. The empire however had many more than they did and they were much better armed.

Kaydens next task would be to liberate some villages from the empire, and start using them for supplies such as food and metal. It seemed that the twins had the same idea as a map of the region was laid out in front of them. "Yama, if you would please come take a look at the plan I have draw I would appreciate it." said Rai waving him over. Gigan and the rest of the officers in the room started laughing hysterically "Who... who is Yama?" Gigan said unable to control his laughter. Rai and Jin looked at each other with confusion and Kayden could only smile. "I told them my name was Yama... heh... I cant go around telling everyone I am Kayden Yamamoto can I?" Kayden said giggling and rubbing the back of his neck. The boys shrugged at each other before turning to Kayden "We figured it was you anyway, Yama sounds really stupid and we couldn't figure any other reason why you would be interested in finding a strategist." they said in unison. "You know it really creeps me out when you do that..." Gigan said with a blank stare. Kayden smiled and moved over to look at the newest battle plans. There were several mining and farming villages in places where little imperial activity was. About five villages in all and then they would start moving on towards the more populated villages.

Kayden smiled and stood up "Gigan take command of our troops and begin the revolution, Rai, Jin, I want both of you to make strategies for taking the five villages as fast as possible. Also make sure that our soldiers do not harm any villagers and that they are treated with respect while we protect and occupy their villages." Kayden said moving towards the door. "Aren't you coming?" Gigan said as Kayden had opened the door. "No, I... need to go see someone." Kayden said looking slightly depressed, he had not seen Reiko in some time and missed her greatly. His motivation for doing this was all coming from her, he needed to see her in order to give him confidence. So that night Kayden returned to the capital and waited in the room in the palace for Reiko to return.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Paniculus Farctus]

Cecil and Reiko had lost track of time that day, and before they had realized it, the sun was setting. The two of them had been practicing the art of stalking all day, following two palace officials until they were unable to. Of course, Cecil had won the contest, having had more practice, but Reiko came close.

They had parted at the secret entrance, and Reiko had disappeared inside while Cecil continued on her way home. Running up the stairs, Reiko tiptoed through the hallway, hoping that no one would catch her just coming off the streets. Creeping through the door to her room, she paused for a moment, her eyes falling on Kayden. Then a huge smile broke across her face.

"You're back," she murmured.