THE JEWEL THIEF

WATCH YOUR HANDS NOW BOY

❖ Adjusting his suit's tie, he tilted his head back and looked forward, Akida - one of his former sword training colleagues stood a few feet from him to watch. He hadn't ever had the need to suit up before but this was a gift by Akida to show that despite what happened earlier between them, there was no bad blood. "How do I look then?" Dallas inquired, doing a short turn around for the other to get a good eyeful. "Like a million belis? Heh, just kidding, you look good. Now you said you were going to go and sail soon.. but when?" Dallas had mentioned before that he was going to leave as soon as he could but with the amount of beli he had on him, that felt a little less likely. "It will be after I take care of a few things." Dallas chose to reply with that simple answer while Akida had adjusted the bandages on Dallas' face. "Ack! That hurts you know!" Dallas quickly sputtered upon the pain pinching his nose.

Dallas at first wasn't too sure upon how he was going to pay for his ship but during his stay at the hospital, one of the nurses had left behind a newspaper in his room which detailed the arrival of a marine transport for a rare diamond which was said to have been once before held by the Pirate King. The rumors were probably just played up by each person telling the story until the Pirate King's name got involved. Now because of those rumors, instead of just a regular unit transferring the item in question, it'd be left up to a Marine Commander and her team. This didn't bode well for him but he still had to do something or else he'd be trapped in Logue Town forever.

Giving a pat on the shoulder to Akida, the young adult grabbed onto his sword and placed it's strap through his arm and over his head so that it's sheathed form would rest diagonally on his back. It'd be much safer there than just holding it by hand after-all! "I'll be back, Akida! Make sure to tend to the suit arrangements for me, you're paying for it!" Akida rolled his eyes from Dallas shouting that towards him and just smiled, watching him run off down the street after petting the two animals outside of the suit shop, a bird and a dog - strange pair.

"You think it's true? That this diamond o' theirs could've been 'eld by that Pirate King or whatevah?" Dallas normally didn't pay attention to the rumors going around by the word of mouth but he did overhear the words of an old man outside of the tavern he walked by. "Well if it is, then every pirate from this side of the four blues is going to go after that thing." The conversation partner told the old man, leaving Dallas more nervous than he had originally been. "I need to get to the building they are holding it in and fast..." Dallas whispered beneath his breath while he carried on his original route, it would take him around two hours before he could finally track down the exact building the Marines were stationed at for the time being and boy was it a sight. The place itself was nothing too special, around the size of a regular two-story building with the gem shop being at the ground floor. The issue here was that there were Ensigns pushing back a crowd of civilians and lesser pirates that were causing an uproar at wanting to see the diamond and check if the rumors were true.

"I'll never get in like that.." Dallas mumbled, rounding himself into one of the two neighboring buildings. He'd rush up to the second floor of it and opened the window, it didn't seem that many were capable of seeing the side of the building from the front so he wouldn't have to worry too much about a civilian or pirate catching their eyes onto him. Dallas took a few slow deep breathes and removed his sword, cutting the glass of the window out and placing it inside of the room he was in. That left the window big enough for him for what was next. "I gotta time this perfectly.. which knowing my luck.." He chuckled and then moved himself back further in the room. He grabbed his katana tightly and held it in a back-handed position before running in a quick sprint across the room, jumping through the now empty window and lifting the sword onto the wall of the building. It's blade stabbed into the side of the building and kept him hanging there next to the window he needed to access to get into the gem shop's second floor. He'd wait though, holding himself against the wall to listen and make sure no one was there, he didn't need to get caught doing this so early.

"C'mon lady luck.. don't fail me now.." He'd whisper and watch the window, turning his head every so often to make sure none of the civilians or pirates at the front got any smart ideas to run around the side and might catch an eye of him doing this. Dallas had little more than a minute and a half left of grip time so he figured he could only wait one more minute before making his way inside, so that was the time he had to hope the coast was clear.

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LOCK AND LOAD, BABY

HANDS SHAKING, DANCE ALL NIGHT

❖ As Dallas had pulled his katana from the wall and swung himself into the room, he was greeted by none other than a flintlock being pointed in his general direction, not the thing you want to see starting off on your first heist. Dallas had little time to think before the man spoke "FREEZE." He'd say but that would do little to actually stop Dallas, he couldn't let this man hinder him right now and thus turned the blade of his sword to the side while rushing. His breathing began to set at an even pace and those eyes of his narrowed showing his lack of fear. "Can't do that." He responded when closing the distance, but tripped himself up on purpose last second and allowed his body to start tumbling towards the opening between the Lieutenant's legs, assuming they had been spread apart at the time.

If he managed to slide between the Marine's legs, he'd turn around behind him and aim for a quick slash of his blade at the man's neck, he wanted to silence the marine and quickly before the others showed up. Yet, if those legs were closed and allowed no access to Dallas, he'd instead steady himself in a crouched position in front of the marine and stab his weapon upwards towards the chin of the man. Either way, his plans were set for both situations but luck was not always on his favor, who knew how this might go!

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QUICK TURN, THE SPIN

KEEP DANCING, TIL YOU WIN

❖ The roll turned out a failure, the marine was smart and jumped up and backed off to the side leaving the swordsman to spin towards his direction. BANG! the sound of gunfire hit the air and some of the civilians outside began to panic while the pirates pressed at the Ensigns all the more, there was action going on and they wanted a piece of it! The shot that had rung out was aimed for his leg and while Dallas himself was fairly dexterous, he only managed to avoid the round by the skin! No, seriously, the bullet had grazed the boy's leg and nicked the flesh to leave a small cut on the side of it which burned slightly when the air rushed against it. He'd wince at this but there was no time to sit there and tend to just a scratch. His mind raced a mile a minute and the world felt slow around him in these few moments that his eyes scanned the room.

Resourcefulness came in handy for any swordsman and taking this trait, Dallas kicked over a coffee table and pushed it towards the room's door, moving in the direction opposite of it's movement to try not to stay still for that gunner marine across from him. They were two meter's away and it left Dallas a chance to try and catch the marine again, hoping the small barricade of that coffee table would work out for the time being. The room itself they were in spanned out as a 10x10 meter room with the door to the side of both of them at the left of the marine and Dallas now.

Think Dallas, think! He thought but then his teachings kicked back in and his nerves calmed almost immediately. "Gofuu Juu." He whispered and his breath began to synchronize with the marines as his body crouched down and immediately pivoted forwards in a swift stab at the male's chest, aiming at the center of the chest -- while that may not be as lethal a target as the abdomen or heart, it was still a more harder to move in comparison since the blade would be going for the center and not one of the sides. "Shajiku no Ame." Dallas spoke during the technique itself, his body having moved in a blitz of speed, pushed to the limits in comparison to the speed he held during the roll earlier.

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RACING THE RUSH

KEEP RUNNIN', RUN FROM THE CRUSH

❖ SPLUSH, the splatter of blood dripping onto the floor in a sickening way met the ears of the swordsman. His breathing was what saved him from a worse fate than what could have been in store, the bullet that was flying towards his leg had met with the flesh but rather than go deep or hit bone, the boy had managed to angle his leg in just a way that the bullet would pass through the flesh and out of the body. He'd no doubt have grieving pain that would make him cringe every time he had to walk with this but it wouldn't reduce his speed too much. He was lucky to have used Gofuu Juuu when he did or else he might night have been standing as he was. "Rest in peace, soldier." Dallas spoke to the dying Marine and removed his sword from the man's chest, flicking it to splatter the remaining blood off of the blade and along the floor. That barricade would only last so long and he needed to do something so he'd slip an arm from his suit jacket and ripped off a sleeve from the shirt beneath it, sliding that cloth around his leg's wound and tying it tightly.

Good, good.. that would help prevent from suffering to blood loss and would help the blood to clot much quicker than an open wound would. Turning his eyes onto the door Dallas tried to think of something, two other people sounded from the other side and Dallas moved to the wall just beside the door itself. He kept to the side where the door would open onto so that it would hide his form from their field of vision whenever they arrived and he began to try and calculate a plan whilst he had time to think. He placed a hand over his mouth and nose to muffle his breathing and any noise it would've given, aiming for the two to explore the room during this time.

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DECISIONS OF FATE

WILL YOU PURSUE THE TRUTH?

❖ Dallas listened to the duo as the two Marine Lieutenants spoke to one another. Apparently the man he had killed was close to retirement? He had no idea but the irony in such was a little devastating but what came as mostly a shock was the fact that the gem he was after may have been on the merchants ship this entire time. A fake? Could that really be what was there on the ground floor just below him? Dallas shook his head, he had to find out for himself and while they were distracted, his footsteps were made to be as soft and slow as he could make them. Moving up behind them he attempted to use one of his skills onto the one of them, aiming to impale the marine down with five consistent strikes to the chest/back area. He didn't speak at all as the blade was held, aimed and eventually shot forwards in a myriad of thrusts towards the one's back, if he could get at least one of them, he might stand a chance but he was beginning to change mentally, feeling that loose ends had to be tied up. He didn't have to kill these marines, he didn't have to go after this gem.. why then? Why did he do this..? He had to find the answers out for himself, why did he feel this rush to use his weapon on the marines without a sense of hesitation? Was his heart hardening; Could he even tell...?

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A SWORDSMANS WILL

PUSHES THEM TO THEIR LIMIT

❖ This Marine was definitely a soldier worth his merit, with help on the way Dallas didn't have time to think on logic and rather just focus on the situation at hand. Tightening the clutch of the cloth around his injured leg he felt that the wound had clotted well enough. His movement speed in a run would still not be it's quickest but it would be well enough to get from the end of the hallway to Rob in a fair-paced run. His arms were unhindered in the slightest however and thus the speed of his next technique was as expected, fast and stronger than it normally would have been as adrenaline raced through his own body and he began to manipulate his muscles to a finer degree, making the impact and strength of his strike better. It all started with a one handed swing towards the man's upper torso..

Yet with the hand went by, there was no clash of blades against those scimitars, in fact Dallas had maneuvered his hand back away from them with nothing in his hand when just moments ago the sword had truly been there! The sword's true whereabouts were shown in a fraction of a second to be falling through the air and into his other hand which had been in the direct way of the swords descent. His hand caught onto the blade and he swung towards Rob's stomach assuming the man had lifted his weapons up to protect his chest previously before and would not have the time to lower them down.

Even if the Marine was fast on the uptake and could notice the feint for what it was, something about this particular technique came off as odd, as if there was a distortion of the air around the blade but it would only serve to hinder the Marine even further. The required distance to jump back and dodge the blow had grown exponentially from the swordsman's ability to compress his strike with air and make it's reach extend a full meter outwards beyond it's original length. With the augmentation of the damage from Dallas' teachings as a Shigure Soen Ryu student and the extra length from his time as a Weapons Specialist, this would surely be a feat for his opponent to deal with. This was Dallas' ace for the moment, after this he would no doubt he fairly exhausted and have it show from his usage of pure stamina all this time without so much as a nap for rest. Would it.. could it.. be enough?

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THE BLOOD SPLATTER

PAINT THE FLOOR RED

❖ Time moved so slow, the feeling of pain seemed to stop momentarily and there was silence for just a few moments before the sound of shuffling met the air and crimson cut through the air in a splash zone. Blood Scattered along the floor and the walls from the dismembered leg as it was flying through the air but it was when the man was still alive that Dallas' body went into overdrive. At the cost of more of his remaining stamina, the boy used that free hand he had and stabbed his own fingers across the cloth that covered his wound from before and actually dug his fingers into the wound with the rest of the hand punching the wound in the process. A scream of utter pain met the air whilst Dallas' legs failed him and his body collapsed downwards towards the ground, the sound of the air splitting overhead coming through from the Marine's blade flying so close that it actually cut some of the strands of his hair off.

In the midst of the Marine's descent back to the ground, the boy rose back onto his feet and dashed himself towards the same room he had come in through earlier, with adrenaline pumping through his veins, the boy sheathed his sword and began to dash across the room he had fought the first lieutenant in earlier. Blood seeped through the cloth on his leg as Dallas hurled himself from the gem store's window and clasped his hands straight onto the open one on the neighboring building that he had cut the glass out of earlier.

Dallas' vision had begun to blur after he grabbed on from the sheer intensity of the pain coursing through his body, not to mention his previous wound had begun to open up some. Unfortunately for Dallas he couldn't manage to steal anything for himself. The boy pulled his body up and through the open window to land on the floor of the neighboring building. He began to catch his breath and then lifted himself up, walking down the stairs to the first floor of that building and out of it's back entrance. The streets would be too dangerous to go through knowing that Lieutenant and those Ensigns could very well capture him so Dallas stuck to the alleyways for now during his escape and eventual return home. He'd have to come up with another way to get himself more beli. This would surely not be the last that Elise' fate would come close to meeting Dallas, her possible vendetta against the un-named intruder would be one that may be fulfilled in the future.