Hera was used to being new in a town, used to the glances she got as she walked through the streets. Yet here there were no glances, no lingering looks as she walked from the wagons that had brought her here. Rhydin. She had learned all she needed to know from the merchants riding along side her. Hera was on the move always on the move.

She had left the shores of Haloisi on a boat destine for unknown shores. She had left everything behind. She had the clothes on her back, her array of weapons and a bag of black leather filled with any thing else she might need for her journey. Food, water extra clothing and a few extra daggers, just in case.

The ship dropped her off at a little port town who's name she had forgotten the moment she left it. Hera was an assassin by trade, she had been trained by the very best and had belonged to the best of the best. The Haloisi Akh'Velahr . They were all assassins all trained to do blood work. She bore the mark of The Haloisi Akh'Velahr on her back that detailed inking of an elegant and ornate Elven dagger. The act of murder was just like it, elegant, ornate and not to be handled lightly.

She had been taught from a young age how to fight. She had been born of one Elven and one human parent her mother was Elven her father was human, her father was a mage of the finer dark arts. Hera had been born a child of fire, and so was marked as all children were with a tribal tattoo of what she was to become. There on her young face the tribal counsel made that tattoo just under her right eye, done in red and black ink. Everyone would know her simply by first glance.

Life was hard and fast, she became an assassin not long after she turned sixteen, and had never looked back. She never had to give any reasons for joining. But like everyone else there she had a reason.

Now she had a reason to her here. Haloisi had given her all it could give, she had been trained and followed the orders of others all her life, now she was one of the senior members, and was giving orders. They could teach her nothing more. So she left and now was here, two boat rides, and six wagon rides all had led her here. Rhydin, a city of lost souls that smelt of blood. The merchants told her the many horrid stories about this place; Rhydin was like any other city. It had its share of good guys and bad guys. Yet here not everything was human as it appeared. She had been told of stories of deamons, darkness, and much toil. She would fit right in, Rhydin was a city of mixed blood. And in a city like Rhydin, there was always someone, somewhere that needed help.

Hera had walked through the streets, at mid day it was a busy place people passed her and didn't look, they hardly glanced at her. Seems she didn't stick out like she feared she might. Dressed in that tight black clothing carrying that wide array of weapons: A pair of long scimitars, of Elven make. One with a golden hilt and a dark toned blade: Called Alfirin. The other with a silver toned hilt and a blue toned blade: Called Meneluin. They were sheathed across her back in an "X". Four throwing knives along her left hip. Her long bow Morthond hung over her right shoulder. Arrows in her quiver that also hung there. She had noted on the way here that everyone in that merchant wagon was armed with something. Seems Rhydin was dangerous.

She walked, drawn into the city by a feeling she could not explain. Something in her drew her this far, she was going to trust it. Soon she found herself standing before a large gate, the building beyond guarded by magical and other wards, yet it was this place that she felt drawn to. She knelt slowly to one knee before the gate. If this place was the reason she had come, she wanted to know why. She looked forward at the wards around the place, it had a strange familiar pulse to it.

Hera knelt there letting the power of the place before her wash over her, it had that feeling that the center of the Haloisi Akh'Velahr base had. Magic, a strong fluid web of it, pulsing all around it like a net ready to catch or stop anything or anyone daring to intrude. Then A voice from the past raced to her ears.

It was like a dream she had long forgotten, the voice was so familiar. She opened her eyes and gazed at the woman and then Hera smiled just dimly. With that sun kissed skin and those dark eyes, a face not easily forgotten, Serena Blaylocke knelt there next to her looking as if Hera might be a ghost. Hera felt that way sometimes. " Well, I'll be damned. Aye it is me." She smiled just a touch more. Serena had not changed, tall and lithe with those eyes that could bore into one's very soul, yet that were dangerously alluring. Always the warrior, always looking as if she was ready for anything to descend and then take it down.

Hera could hardly forget the day she met her, even now after so long. "Its been a long time; you haven't changed a bit." Hera could hardly believe it, something had told her to come this way into this city, and to these gates. She had seen none, till now, that she had known once upon a time. She rose at last, "What are the chances? I come here to find a new way, and you pop out of nowhere. Seems like old times."

Time: it had flown by. Four years. Four long years. It felt like decades longer than that. The world back then seemed smaller, things were simpler. Do the job you were hired to do, no ands, ifs or buts. No mercy. No way out, but your own death.

That was the way of the Haloisi Akh'Velahr. Now, after those four years Hera had wondered what her life would have been like if she would have given herself up to training upon the Isle of Shadow. But, she had been devoted to her present calling. The life of an assassin was not for the faint of heart. A life led in blood shed.

So much had happened in those four years. Hera was as amazed to be standing there embracing her old friend as Serena was to see Hera. In those four years, Hera had changed; something drastic had changed her. But that would all come out later. Now she smiled after returning that firm embrace and smirked softly to the kiss upon her cheek.

"We have so much to discuss Hera. It has been way too long of a parting. Please, come in. Illea, will be delighted to see you....almost as much as I am."

"Aye much to discuss...Illea.." That name brought a smile to Hera's face. She then turned to look at the Sanctuary beyond them. "I am ready for anything." Perhaps this was why she had been drawn here. She would know in time.

Hera just grinned as Serena put her arm around her shoulders and led her through the gates into the heavily protected Sanctuary. "You know that I've got a ton of questions for you, don't you? And don't think that I'm going to let you slip away so easily again gorgeous..."

Hera nodded to that. " Yes I know, I have much to tell you. I am willing to answer anything. And I have no plans of going anywhere this time." She added a slow smile to that before looking ahead to the large doors.

"Go on assassin," Hera saw that smirk out of the corner of her eye and she had to smirk back, "Mother Scathach harbors no ill will to the righteous Haloisi Akh'Velahr. Particularly not to such a member as yourself, who is just so efficient at making 'the bad guys' disappear!"

Hera nodded and passed on inward. She wondered as she walked inside if Mother Scathach would still harbor no ill will to the righteous Haloisi Akh'Velahr after the 'Q and A' session was over. Hera walked on, guided by simple intuiton; though she had never set foot inside she felt as if she had seen and stood within this building before. The foyer was truly a sight to behold. Then Serena's voice echoed in her ears."Illea! I've got a rather hard-hitting visitor here who really wants to see you. She says she's ready for anything!"

Hera smirked softly, she knew she would live to regret those words, but she was indeed ready for anything and more.

Those softly pointed elven ears heard Illea coming; that slap of bare feet which resonated through the hall and into the foyer. Then, the scent of shea butter and rich nut oil floated to her before her gaze turned to see Illea.

That warm hug was greatly returned and the scent of the nut oil and shea butter was inhaled deeply before Hera's mutli-toned cyan eyes took in her old friend. It had been a very long time, but little had changed, save for the fact that the Illea that Hera recalled never would have been seen in such "relaxing looking" clothing. Unless of course, it was a "day off", and those did not happen often.

"It is so good to see you, Illea. You...in great need of me" I am more than able to do what I can, I always seem to arrive at the best of times. If I had known so many old friends were in this town, I would have come this way much sooner." Hera then smiled softly, "I am sure you have just as many questions as Serena does. " Hera was as ready as she could be for the questions to start flowing; some of the answers might even surpise her two old friends.

"Shall we sit?" If she was going to go into the details of her past it was always wise to sit, as some things about to be said might just floor the two strong warriors before her.

Hera turned on a heel and followed, right beside the two warriors, in further towards the main parlor. Once those multi-tonal cyan eyes got a view of those plush and plentiful couches, she smiled a bit more. It had been some time since she had sat down upon a cozy couch. The scent of cherry blossoms rushed towards her, so familar they were. The parlor was warm with a soft breeze that Hera followed to the open windows. It was a very nice place, tranquil.

Hera slowly sat down upon one of the many couches reclining in to the warmth of the plush cushions before looking back to Illea and Serena. It felt like decades had gone by since she had sat beside the two Scathachians. . "Much time has passed since last you brandished a weapon with us." Hera nodded to that, as time had gotten away from her. "I hope you've been well" Tell us of your travels."

Those mutli-toned cyan hues then looked to the snuffed hearth and she nodded softly. "I have been well for the past year, though before that things were very different. My travels have taken me many places, some of which I would love to go again, and others I shall never return to by choice."

"It has been four long years since I last saw Serena's face " Now looking her way, " and in those four years so much has happened. I know not where to begin but at the very beginning itself. After we parted ways, I went home, back to Haloisi, and got the 'mission' that forcefully ended my time there and changed my very life."

"I got back and received a task worthy of my rank. It was a mission that all others had failed at, or so I had been led to beileve. The Clan masters gave me the sealed orders, and so I left; going to get the things which I might need for this certain event. I was told that the mission would take me far and wide, so I bid goodbye to my Atara, Atar, and Toror."

The elven words flowed out, but to speak their names truly hurt her still, so she used the elven words for mother, father, and brother in their stead. "I then read the details of my assignment. I was to find a certain man all others had failed to find. A murderer who had killed many innocents. I was to locate him at all costs and kill him. I was not to return until the job was done, and as proof I was to bring back his severed thumb. It certainly seemed cut and dry. I soon found out, however, that it was not so. The Haloisi Akh'Velahr can be quite ruthless; as you know we become judge, jury, and executioner when a job comes our way. I tracked him for miles; days upon days. Those same days turned into weeks, then weeks into months. And finally one year later I found the man whose life I was to end. "

She paused, looking to the open window where the soft breeze blew at the sheer curtains as if recalling the very day she spoke of.

"He stood in an open valley, well with in shot of Morthond." She of course spoke of the darkly toned elven bow that she had stelled close to her strong legs against the couch side. "I had him in my sights. Then a girl, she couldnt have been older than ten, ran towards him followed by a boy even younger. Then, a woman presented, dressed in what no woman who normally crosses country would wear," meaning a lovely dress of some kind. "I lowered my bow. Had I been sent to assassinate a man who was a father and a husband" No man, who could have done all the horrid things that I had been told, would have fathered children or wed a woman. I crossed into the valley, and he did not run. He just stood strong before his family." She again looked to the doused hearth, that tattoo upon her face seeming to glow under the soft wisps of her chestnut brown hair.

"We sat that night before a fire and spoke to one another, something forbidden by the rightous Haloisi. He was my mark, but he was not. The clan masters had lied, the papers had been forged, the grim tales told were all false. This man had never killed a soul, but he had been on the run his whole life for one 'crime', loving the wrong woman. You see, the woman with him was the main clan leader's only daughter. And that was why I was sent to kill him, not for rightous vengence, not to give back what blood had been spilt by his hands, but for one man's own selfish gain."

She took a long breath, then smoothing her glove bound hands over her leather clad legs she said, " When at last I returned home, I found my childhood home burnt to the ground, my parents and bother dead. It was made to look like a hit of revenge from another rival league of assassins, but I knew that the Haloisi had done it. I then vowed my own revenge, so I set out under the cloak of night to kill each of the leading members of my own clan. And I did, one by one 'til the only one left was the very head of the clan itself, the man who had sent me on the mission, the one who had so much to gain. I killed him slowly. I did not hide and I made sure he knew who I was. I then took the bodies to the Haloisi sanctum and burned it to the ground with my own magic." Her fingers tips, though bound by tight leather gloves, sparked with a trace of that very magic then.

"I left Haloisi then, and I have been on the road since; it has been three years since that day. I ended up here on a whim, after taking many side jobs along the way to pay for passage, room and board, as well as food. But I have laid my past at my feet in the ashes, and I am now ready for a real fight. I want to fight for a worthy cause again. I wish to know those I am fighting for and with, can be trusted. You said you are in need of me Illea, I am at your service. For I know the Daughters of Scathach are very worthy."

She then looked back to them, wondering if Mother Scathach still harbored no ill will to her. Hera also wondered how the two mighty women there before her would view her now that they knew she had killed, with no mercy. Innocent or not, Hera had killed all of the Haloisi Akh'Velahr's senior members in cold blood.

Hera looked to the dim unlit heath as the room seemed all to quiet for a moment. Hera then looked to those blooms, those rich cherry blossoms, for a long minute as the soft breeze blowing in through open windows made them sway. Then her eyes shifted to Illea..."We are grateful that Scathach has succeeded in your search for answers and righteous vengeance. But above all, we are glad that She has allowed your path to wind back to us."

"I am glad to have found my way to loyal friends." She then felt that strong hand upon her shoulder..."Welcome to Rhydin. While it is not everything it could be, it is all that it can be right now. We are working to help that situation presently." Hera's dark brows rose as she saw Illea bite down upon her lip, as if the next words she was about to speak were hard to say. Hera knew that look of hers all too well. "Temple Bhaal has found us here. We...we are at war."

"We..we are at war." Those words stuck in Hera's mind."We do not ask you to stay for us, but for yourself. Should you wish to involve yourself, we would welcome your blades. But we do not...we cannot ask for you to sacrifice yourself in our unending battles. These are not happy days here." Not happy days indeed. A war. Hera had fought personal wars, and she had battled in the wars of the Haloisi, but this sounded much different.

"We will give you sanctuary, food and rest for as long as you require it. We ask nothing in return. You have proven yourself to Scathach time and time again." She smiled as she endeavored to locate her inner core and claim an expression of peace.

"I will fight." Hera stared back at Illea then across to her friend Serena. "I will take sanctuary and food and rest as well. But if there is a war to fight, then my swords and skills are at your wise disposal. Though I am far from being worthy of fighting along side the best of the best. I will lend my hand. If there is a war in Rhydin, then I will fight it as well. I have known many unhappy days, and I will not return to the Haloisi, but I can damn well fight to settle things here. If you all will have me that is. And, trust me, it is good to be seen." She offered a soft smile then, a sight not often seen upon her face, her true smile.

Hera then looked back to those cherry blossoms again, so delicate yet they could be snuffed with but once touch of her leather bound hand. "Tell me what I can do, I did come ready for anything."

Hera's multitonal cyan eyes were focused upon the hearth, unlit. Yet at any moment, with not a word, she could make it so. Just as without any pain in her heart she had killed for the lives of her murdered family. Hera did not seek forgiveness for those deaths she alone had caused. Yet her friends deserved to know the unerlying truth of why she had come to Rhydin.

Once that hand was placed upon her shoulder, Hera took a long slow breath. Then, she turned her gaze to Serena as she spoke.

"Hera. You know you are much more than a dear friend to all of us. You have always been there for me....you've always been there for all of us when we have needed you most. If you say the Haloisi was behind all of this backhanded misfortune, then I believe you without asking another single question. Your actions were violent yes, but ultimately just. And that, has always been your constant description, hon. I for one know that I view you coming here as a generous gift of threefold. First, we get the chance to see each other again after such a long, lonely hiatus. Second, we as Illea just stated, are in dire need of a trustworthy and loyal friend, such as yourself, who commands your brand of specialized warfare skills. And lastly, perhaps we can be a real source of shelter and undying symbol of friendship for you in your time of need...you who have always been so reliable, kind, and forthcoming with us."

"My honor lies in the truth, if nothing more. If I am to be welcomed fully, I hide nothing from my allies, not even my greatest of faults. I am very grateful to be welcomed by such good friends, and understood in my actions. You know I am always there for my friends, especially those who are like family to me."

"Really Hera, welcome to Rhydin. I know I speak for Illea and all of the Scathachians when I echo our sincere happiness that you have arrived here in this dark hour when the Temple of Bhaal has reared up to unleash bloody hell on this city. You are really a goddess-send. Our sacred Sanctuary shall be open to you for so long as you need it. Please Hera...consider this your home."

"I have not considered anyplace home in a long while. I thank you both for your kind welcomes. My swords are at your service." She then watched Serena rise, and that smile appear.

"Now Miss Fyre, if you have brought any extra bags, then by all means let me help you with them. Afterall, if you are moving in here, we have to make sure that your new room is properly set up, sister. Chop, chop."

"I have nothing save for what is on me." That was her weapons and one very old black bag with a few clothes in it and other "things" she might be in need of here. "I would welcome a room; I do not need much in it." Hera was never one for staying indoors long, she liked to camp outside under the stars where she was less likely to burn anything to the ground.

There was another reason as well, but Hera was not about to come forth with that at this time. "Any extra, little room you have will suit me fine my old friends. I do wish to know more about this battle though. If I am to lend my swords to this noble cause, then I need to know whom or what we are fighting against. The Temple of Bhaal, as I recall, is well known for its blood thirtsy minions and methods." Right down to business, Hera didn't joke around when it came to her work.

" Sounds just fine to me. I look forward to meeting all of the others." She walked alongside her friend. "I keep odd hours too, come and go at will. But I like the quiet, it helps me focus." She linked arms with Illea then and smirked. "Oh, you don't have to tend to me so, I am sure I could figure out the bath myself...though I am sure I am beyond needing one. And dinner sounds grand. I am quite sure your food has improved from the last time I had any of it, but I have never been too picky about my food."

She joked softly, walking with the two towards the north hall. "Since it has been awhile since I had to share any space with other people, would you mind telling me about the fellow Sisters of Scathach before I meet them all?" Hera liked meeting new people, but also like to be well prepared for those meetings if she was allowed to be.