Thread: Protect me? ~babyLETSplay & Kharvek ~

Vic Sheffield had seen and been through a lot in his years. Five years retired now he lived on his own out in the woods. He preferred it that way. The first few years of retirement he tried living in the city and getting a normal job, but after his line of work you just don't go back to doing things the normal way. You look at every person as a potential threat or target. You eavesdrop on any conversation you can find to try to get one more little edge on someone, another piece of information someone might want. You're always thinking of what persona to present to someone to get what you need. Normal people don't need to do that in their day to day lives. Vic did before he retired though. He spent nearly fifteen years of his life with the Imperial Scouting and Intelligence outfit. On paper they were an outfit who's purpose was to map unknown regions and mark areas of interest. In reality they were spies, agents and assassins. They did the kind of work for the Empire that the Empress and Parliament didn't want to leave a paper trail behind. In fact the Empress rarely knew what the division was up to, and she preferred to keep it that way. She never read the direct results of the operations they engaged in, she just knew that they would always act in the interests of the Empire. This made the chain of command for the Scouts fuzzy, and that's how they liked it. They didn't have to adhere to any silly moral code the rest of the Imperials agents and soldiers had to abide by. Vic had done it all. He'd assassinated political rivals, infiltrated corrupt trading companies and sabotaged the military might of many a foe. He also did many darker things than that. The world he lived in was a strange place with many mysteries and magic, and at the forefront of the Scouts he had to go to the darkest places that existed. He was good at what he did. Growing up in a rough part of the Imperial capital, he had to learn to act and think quickly. When he swiped the purse of an agent of the Scouts...that is how he got recruited. Instead of punished? He was offered further training and a job. Vic accepted that job and for fifteen years served the Empire in ways most people didn't have the stomach to. It was the Neko War that pushed him over the edge. During the early years he'd do intelligence operations against them, but never found them to be all that different than humans in many ways. They fell weak to the same things humans did, enjoyed many of the same things. They weren't identical by any means, but they weren't this strange, alien thing to be feared. However humanity is known for being afraid of anything different, and aside from looking different than humans, Neko could use magic. The more and more that become known of that magic, the more afraid the humans got until war became unavoidable. Having been deep in Neko territory Vic knew better. He knew magic likely came at a price. He didn't know what price, but he didn't fear it the same way the others did. He certainly had some fear and respect towards it, but not enough that he felt the entire race needed to be wiped clean in order to preserve humanity. So when the war broke out? Vic resigned. With his old age came a bit more of a conscious than he'd had before. There was more to it than just that of course, but Vic wasn't the kind of man to open up about it over a pint of ale. So here he was now, living in a cabin out in the woods by himself. He'd occasionally go to town for supplies and put down a few pints at the local pub, but he mostly kept to himself. Despite living alone he didn't look like what one would expect a hermit to look like. He made an attempt to keep his appearance trimmed. His hair, while on the shaggy side was cut above his shoulders and he shaved at least once a week. It was later in the week this time so he had a full blown five-o-clock shadow going. His frame was on the stockier side of lean and despite his advanced age he was quite nimble and spry. The training and conditioning he'd received certainly let him age well. He was in his late thirties at the time he took that fateful walk this crisp evening. The cry sharp and shrill, echoing across the trees. It was near. Vic's instincts kicked in as he ran directly towards the sound of a scream, towards the mouth of a dingy cave. From the mouth of the cave he could hear sounds of a struggle, but wasn't yet able to make anything out. Someone was in trouble, he knew that much. All he had on him was a carving knife but that likely was all he was going to need. Hey! What's going on in here? He shouted. If they were just a couple of kids, as Vic assumed, they'd likely get scared and run off at the sound of an outsider.