Welcome to Gaia! ::

He stood atop the horizontal beam of wood which hosted the main sail, tied in a bundle at the upper portion of the main mast. With his hands at his hips, elbows bent, the swashbuckler stood, balance ever so perfectly on his fine riding boots, a result of years working and living with a troupe of circus entertainers. Of course, this little bit of information would provide anyone wondering where he attained his dexterous skills from, but also, it would give those who were a bit more sharp to deduct that perhaps that was also a reason for the odd way he acts.

"HAHA!" Turriens bellowed forth a hardy laugh as he peered across the docks and the crowd by the side of the ship, his finely trimmed mustache lining a crooked grin against his lips. He glanced at his assembled team, the dark skinned girl and the guy which didnt know where he was going at first, but of course, only one as brilliant as himself could direct them to fame and fortune.

With a sudden gust of wind, his left hand instinctively whipped up to hold his large plumed hat atop his head, lest it get blown away. Ignoring the crew below which yelled at him to get down, he decided he rather liked it up here atop the mast. Drawing his rapier from it's scabbard with a clean shing sound, he pointed it downwards into the crowd gathered below and cried out at a random person, picked out by his verdant eyes, to join the adventure.

"You there! Yes, you! Come aboard and join us on this fine adventure to rescue your fellow citizen and embark on a quest for riches." he cried out like a madman. "Hey, wait. Where are you going?"

It was going to a long journey...

Amongst the crowd, as they yelled and cheered Reiko on, a man stood apart from them. He alone was not showing his support, but seemed of ice and stone. However, though he didn't respond, his eyes alighted with a fire. It had been a long time, almost a full year since he had fought.

The moment was coming when this man, known as Dark to many, his real name concealed, would re-enter the world of fighting. Perhaps this was going to happen now. It seemed suitable.

With a soft whistle, Dark stepped forward confidently, a grin spreading across his face as he stood just a few steps from the actual arena.

"Reiko...."

He said, almost teasingly, the grin still fixed upon his face.

"I will take you on..."

Dark dropped his grin to a slight smile. He had a good memory, as was befitting one who had transcended. Well almost.

"I didn't say I knew you" He replied "The crowd..." He motioned to the people around him, some of whom were staring at him "knows your name....or at least I think they do...."

As if to verify this, a few overzealous men chanted "REIKO! REIKO! REIKO WILL KICK YOUR a**!!"

He ignored this, swiftly undoing his shirt. He let it fall to the ground, not caring. It was common in most towns, especially cheap for a traveller.

"I am ready..."

He stepped into the arena, his mind attuning itself with his body for maximum output, his heart slowing down and his breath became deeper, storing oxygen for the coming fight.

"It's just the familiarity, that's all."

Reiko cautiously advanced forward and studied Dark. His attack came as swift standing right kick at the outside of Dark's left knee.

Just the basics, all I'll need.

Reiko's knee collided with Dark's left hand as it swung inward at his ground. Not in any sort of damaging fashion, just a weak nullification of both attacks. Reiko's right foot went to the ground right after the contact.

Immediately Reiko's right fist shot at Dark's stomach, for one shot. It would retract and shoot for a left hook to the kidneys, finishing with a right uppercut, cutting upwards to the chin.

His right arm went out like a vertical bar to knock away Dark's left arm and then Reiko drew his left fist at his hip, his entire body turning left as he reared the fist for a hard left hook into Dark's stomach.

THe fool and his challenger were fighting. Meryl would have no contest...

At least that she would have thought, had she not just kicked the door in to see five men standing around what appeared to be a shitload of cash.

"Gentlemen..." Meryl said, a small grin on her full lips as she stepped onto the fallen oak door, the wood creaking slightly as her boots touched painted splinters.

Golden Sting stood in the back, the old fat manager sweating in his expensive suit, looking all the money on the table then to the woman in the cloak, as if weighing up whcih was more important - before pointing to Meryl. "Take care of her!"

The four other men around the table began to peel away from the money, their expensive suits barely concealing the hard muscle within. Meryl almost felt pity for them - they looked like they had been forced into their sunday best. They even shuffled slightly to avoid splitting their shoes.

Meryl looked to Sting and shook her head, clicking her tongue at the man as the four men surrounded her doorway in a semi-circle...

Before Meryl moved.

Her hands, concealed within her cloak, suddenly slashed out, something dark whipping into the right leg of the man to Meryl's left, sending him to a knee with a grunt - before another dark shape slashed across his face, blowing a few teeth out of his mouth to embed within the walls and sending his beefy form to the ground.

Meryl's grin was still on her face as she lifted her arms up high, throwing the cloak back to rest behind her shoulders - to reveal her weapons held in her hands. Twin tonfas, the hafts of strong wood following her forearms with the pommels resting snugly in her grip. Her right tonfa was stretched out, and a deft flick of the wrist span the length back around to rest on her forearm once more. "Always have to do it the hard way...must be because i'm a chick."

Grunts two and three decided to try for a double play, and as they stepped forward with steriod-pumped arms outstretched Meryl's left fist slashed out, the length of the tonfa in her hand slipping out in a downward slash to clonk on the man's forehead before sending the short pummel at the end of the haft into his chest, the stars dancing across his vision sent into darkness as his sternum was crushed by the sheer force of the blow.

Grunt three had grabbed Meryl's right arm and the tonfa held by it, and was grinning as he drew his free hand out - before Meryl suddenly flipped her free tonfa around in her hand, now gripping onto the length with the hand-rest jutting out. A quick flick of the wrist, much like a whip snapping, and the man's kneecap was lying in a bloody mess across the room, his mouth open wide in a scream before a vicuous headbutt sent him into dreamland.

Now grunt four remained. If he was smart - which he didn't seem - he would have studied Meryl's attacks thus far, and strategised a way around them - but instead he stepped forward with his arms raised in a boxing fashion, protecting his face from any attack as Meryl shook her right arm free from G3's limp grip and flipped the tonfa around so she gripped the haft -

Before stepping forward. The attacks were brutal and fast, the hand-rests slamming into bone and meat as she whipped them into his body again and again, attacking knees, chest and arms until he was finally lying on the floor whimpering, round bloody holes adorning his expensive but way-too-small suit.

Looking up over her sunglasses at Sting, who was still desperately trying to stuff way too much cash into a very small duffel bag, Meryl flipped the tonfas up in her hands again, now resting the lengths on her forearms again, the hand-rests safely snug in her palms. "Anymore foot-soldiers, Sting - or are you ready to face the autorities?"

Dark blinked at the looming fist in his face. He knew there was no possible way to avoid this. With a gesture of bravo, he drove forwards while focusing all the remaining strength into his fist in a last ditch attempt to knock Reiko out.

The way he saw it, Reiko had no defense to his punch. HE had no defense to Reiko's punch, so what could he do?

With an almightly thump, the fist connects, but ah...luckily for Dark, it was lights off before the pain could flare outwards upon his face.

He would have one hell of a bruise once he re-gained consicous.