#kiness

Given what I think Kinessa’s link to Zhin is through Sha Lin, I went with Kinessa instead of Skye for this story. Hope you don’t mind!

Bounty hunting was often a lucrative job, and for a professional like Kinessa herself, it was almost like a job on the side for extra money when she felt like it. Sometimes, the big catches came in, and this was one of those times upon finding a bounty for a man named Zhin, for almost a hundred grand.

She didn’t really need the money, but all the time being cooped up in the bases and just sniping birds out of the sky turned awfully boring after awhile. So she did her research on this man, found out what she could about him, took her rifle and her down payment and was off to find him.

During her research she learned that Zhin was a tyrant currently ruling over an empire and multiple unnamed villages that had been claimed as outposts for what was known as the Thousand Hand Guild. Nothing really came up on the guild except for stories passed on by villagers who had experienced first hand what they could do, but Kinessa learned that she was on dangerous ground here.

Zhin for sure wasn’t going to be an easy target. He was clearly smart enough to have gotten this far. She now passed through a village that had been scorched and burned to the ground, leaving only a small colony of survivors who stuck together, unsure of what to do in wake of Zhin passing through.

As Kinessa came to the village, she searched in her bag for the bounty sheet for Zhin. “Hi, uh, sorry to intrude. Have any of you seen this man?” She showed the villagers the sheet of paper. An old woman took it out of her hands, examining it closely. 

“Yes... this man came through here a few days ago and burned everything down. We were defenseless against him. Do you know him?” The woman asked. Behind her the rest of the village had huddled together, interested to hear Kinessa’s story.

“No,” Kinessa responded, “I’m just going to get rid of him is all.” She looked around the village. Perhaps once it might have been a lovely place - quaint and cozy, welcoming to visitors, but now everything was just ash and coal, with flecks of orange embers still burning here and there. She didn’t want to tell them she was honestly just in it for the money. “Any chance you know where he went?”

The old woman pointed east. “The empire... the one made of sand, likely. There isn’t any other place that hasn’t been burned down and destroyed. Please, kill him if you must. That man is dangerous. Hundreds of people have fallen to his hand.” 

Kinessa nodded. “Thank you. I wish I could help here, but the sooner he’s gone the better.” She remounted her horse, setting off eastward. The edge of the forest melted into desert, bright and hot under the pulsing sun. Kinessa had her suspicions about this empire the old woman had told her about, and her suspicions were confirmed as it came into view into the distance.

She knew this place. Sha Lin grew up here. His entire home was now a burning citadel of flames, mounted with regalia of its new, tyrant ruler. Perhaps if Zhin was there, Sha Lin knew something about him. She still had a long way to go before reaching the city, so she thought she might learn a little more about Zhin on the way there. Reaching for the little communication device she had clipped to the back of her belt, she called Sha Lin all the way back at base.

“Hey tiger. Can I ask you something?” Kinessa asked.

There was a faint crackle as the connection between them tried to stabilise itself. Sha Lin’s slightly distorted voice came through eventually. “Sure Kin, what’s up?”

“What do you know about a man named Zhin?” There really wasn’t a point in beating around the bush. She was due to reach the Empire soon, so getting anything she could before she had to go silent was good. 

There was a long pause on Sha Lin’s end to the point where Kinessa thought he might have cut out, but eventually he sighed. “It’s a long story behind Zhin. We were childhood friends but all that time his father was plotting to overthrow my parents from the throne. He planted ideas in Zhin’s head right from the beginning and by the time we were teenagers he wasn’t really an innocent person anymore. I don’t believe he was or is ever truly bad, but it’s been years and he’s been under his father’s influence this whole time. I know he doesn’t actually want to be like this, but at this point it’s all he knows, and all he cares about is pleasing his father, regardless of what it takes.”

When he was done there was another long pause. Kinessa had almost reached the city walls by then, so there was no time to ask more. “Well that’s interesting. Thanks tiger. I’ll let you know when I’m back in Crosswind Hold.” She shut off her communication device before Sha Lin could ask her any more questions about what she was doing.

She spent a good lot of time from sundown to almost midnight trying to get into the Empire. Any guard that stood in her way was eliminated swiftly and quietly until she stood before the closed throne room. Normally she would have liked to remain a safe distance away, but this felt really personal here.

Kinessa waited patiently until she could sneak in with a group of servants. She thought her presence had gone unknown, but as soon as she got into the throne room she was met with Zhin. “Greetings, Paladin,” he growled. His back was turned to her as he admired a finely done painting mounted on the wall between two thrones. He snapped his finger, causing the servants to scurry out. Now, it was just the two of them.

Kinessa narrowed her eyes as she observed Zhin. A good sniper always understood their target. Although of course, observing from a distance was always better than observing when they were only metres away from each other, and all she had was a slow-firing pulse rifle and he had a flaming sword. He barely turned his head to look at her, although immediately he noticed the rifle.

“I did not think a sniper of all people would be here to challenge me,” He mused, “I’ve had people bring in all sorts of weapons. Very good ones too, perhaps even more finely crafted than my blade. Not many guns, and even then never a sniper. You have an odd taste in weapons.”

Kinessa took all the time he was mocking her to understand him. Not many guns, huh? Likely he wasn’t used to fighting against them then. She observed the room as well. What could she use to her advantage? The room was elaborately decorated yet small, meaning there were lots of places to throw oppressor mines on that couldn’t be shot off clearly, but a small room against a sword was also calls for attention. He knew this room a lot better than she did.

He swung his sword idly. “Well, Paladin? Aren’t you going to fight me? Or should I let you run to another building and set up your rifle first? Either way, you’re only delaying your death.”

Kinessa didn’t move. Whoever made the first move always lost in close combat. Zhin rolled his eyes. “I suppose I must do everything.” With a roar, he swung his sword at her, surprising Kinessa as flaming oil flew from the blade’s hollowed center. 

She dodged to the side, throwing an oppressor mine up to the ceiling. Immediately it caught on Zhin, sending painful sparks of electricity up his arm. His muscles tensed, and Kinessa took that one tiny window of opportunity of him being distracted to disarm him and press her rifle against his chest. She threw the sword across the room where there was no way he could reach it.

“Do it then,” Zhin snarled, “kill me, Paladin.” He was well aware that there was a very small chance of escape with a rifle at point blank range. It didn’t stop him from being mad at himself for losing a fight to a sniper so quickly.

Oddly enough, Kinessa didn’t pull the trigger. “Who are you?” The Bounty Hunter asked. She was testing him, looking for an inkling of something good. Sha Lin had said he used to be someone good. Perhaps part of that still existed.

Zhin laughed. “You challenge me and yet you do not know who I am? Truly a fool.”

“No, I know who you seem to be, but who are you?” Kinessa stared long and hard. She thought about what Sha Lin had said. He doesn’t actually want to be like this. He didn’t give her a response.

“Kill me or don’t, you’re wasting my time, Paladin. Just get it over with,” Zhin growled. Much to his surprise, Kinessa backed off. She gave him a long, hard look before running out of the throne room. He intended to grab his sword and run after her, but by the time he got outside she had teleported away and was over the city wall again, probably running through the desert.