"Have I mentioned already that this is scheme is insane?" Zenith hissed.

Perhaps he was grumpy due to having to change his nice comfortingly-safe camouflaged suit for bulky, sweaty, noisy armor from some unlucky guard they first spotted. Or maybe it was the fact that he had to walk in the open for once instead of slinking along from rafters and rooftops. Or perhaps it was just because they decided to carry out a ruse to escape and that involved him dressing up as a guard after knocking said guard unconscious and pretending that the Red Skin, who revealed her name to be Caroline (which was a very strange name for a Red Skin in Zenith's opinion), was his prisoner and he was leading her out of the town for its own protection.

Whatever the case, he felt extremely uneasy, uncomfortable, and very out of place in this awkward suit of chainmail, tunic, and a metal helm. If that wasn't bad enough, the guard they borrowed the armor from had a rather wide girth resulting in Zenith swimming in the armor, much to Caroline's amusement. But they had to act since the gates closed at midnight and no one was allowed in or out. Something to do with new 'cautionary laws' the mayor put in place due to a troll sighting on the western foothills.

Sadly, Caroline did not share his discomfort and instead found the situation very humorous.

"For the umpteenth time!" The Red Skin shot back, sounding annoyed now more than amused. "Would you keep your trap shut. That guard had a deeper voice than your high-pitched squeal."
"Hey!" Zenith protested.

"Is everything alright here, Bobdobs?" A gruff voice asked, startling the unusual duo out of their squabbling.

Zenith froze, completely thrown off-guard, as he stared in disbelief at the soldier in front of him who was leaning on a hefty-looking spear. The guard's beady eyes seemed to bore holes in his head and he instantly started sweating.

"Bobdobs?" Caroline whispered.

"Hush!" Zenith barked, his sense of alarm growing as a few more spear-totting guards strolled over to enjoy the show.

"Where you talking to me?" The guard growled, his previously smug-grin twisting into an ugly scowl.

Apparently 'Bobdobs' wasn't so popular with the nightlife here. This was going to get messy.

"No, her," Zenith retorted, grateful for an excuse to divert their attention.

"Oi! Lookie here," A guard squeaked. "He's got a Red Skin wench with 'im. Fancy that!"

"Aye!" Another guard hollered. "What the devil is she doing here?"
"Caught her causing trouble with Lady Balderdash," Zenith temporized. "Thought it best to escort her out of the city before she did more damage than a simple prank."

"Lady Balderdash?" The squeaky guard repeated in confusion, scratching his head under his helm. "She must be new around here. I never heard of her before."

"Aye!" Said the louder guard. "But that's no matter. This Red Skin is a problem. And we don't like problems!"

"But she's a rather pretty Red Skin," The squeaky guard stammered, flushing bright red. "Don't ye think we can have some fun with her first?"

"Not a bad idea," The first guard agreed. "Wouldn't you say so, Bobdobs? You always fancied a romp in the hay with them Red Skins after all. Aint that so?"

"He'd go on for hours about the things he'd like to do to them!" The squeaky guard interjected.

Zenith saw red and forced himself to slip into his numb, emotionless state.

"Don't you know it," Zenith snorted. "But the town gateway isn't the ideal setting to put these filthy Red Skins in their place. How about I take out the trash to a safe distance and let you pick up the pieces when I give the signal, eh? After all, wouldn't want anyone else to think this a good, or bad, idea and take advantage of the wench, would we?"

A murmur of agreement rippled through the guards and Zenith was glad for it since he could feel Caroline rigid in his grasp and knew she was probably seething and plotting all kinds of revenge.

"Now, why don't you all give me a little breathing room," Zenith said sternly. "These devils are well-known for their feistiness. No telling what she's capable of."

The guards fell silent save for a squeak of fright from the nasal one and stepped back. Zenith clamped his hands firmly on Caroline's chains and marched her through them towards the gate.

"When I say run, run," He hissed silently, avoiding the penetrating gaze of the guards around him. "Things are about to get messy around here."

Caroline was breathing raggedly and Zenith knew she was forcing herself to remain calm so he let her keep her peace but inwardly, his mind was racing. Their whole plan had spiraled out of control and they were on the verge of being discovered. While Red Skins weren't exactly enemies of the state, they were not allowed inside human settlements and treated as something sub-human. People could use them as slaves or worse since they hated Red Skins for their love of pranks and causing mayhem. Everything went awry when there was a Red Skin involved.

Thus, Red Skins tented to live in the wilds or far-flung regions mostly uninhabitable to normal folk though the young and restless ones loved pranking humans with a vengeance. It was a hard task to find one and Zenith managed in the nick of time. Even his mentor, gods rest his soul, believed he was chasing shadows and would never live to see his dream fulfilled. All of his friends thought he was nuts and had a little too much ale. He had no friends now. He had nothing. He had to do this and he'd rather die than let a few stupid guards ruin his chance at victory before the mission even began.

"Okay," He growled. "Change of plans. I take the guys on the right and you take the guys on the left. Savvy?"

"You trust me with that?" Caroline whispered in obvious disbelief.

Zenith snorted. "Now's a little too late for trust dear. It's about escape and survival. These guards are standing in the way of my mission and I won't let them."

"Oi! Bobdobs! Are you listening to me?" The gruff guard spat. "I said hand her over – now! One more step and there's a spear in your gut."

Zenith froze and shot a small, nearly indistinguishable look at Caroline. The Red Skin nodded back swiftly. Zenith turned around slowly and stared at the guard with cold eyes of fury. The guard actually took a step back in surprise and Zenith increased his alarm as he pulled off his helmet revealing that he was not actually 'Bobdobs' but someone else entirely.

The guard paled as Zenith's reputation hit home.

"Wait a minute, you're not Bobdobs!" He stammered. "You're…"

But before he had a chance to finish his sentence, a beam of dark red light shot out of nowhere and hit him in the right temple. The guard didn't even have time to scream before he fell limp and hit the ground with a dull thud. Zenith stared in surprise and gave himself a mental shake. He turned to Caroline with sudden admiration and unsheathed his blades but the Red Skin placed a hand on his chest.

The guards around them were frozen in shock as they stared incomprehensively at their fallen comrade but the daze would not last long. There would be blood spilled this night. Or would there…

Caroline seemed to have the answer for she leaned close to Zenith pressing her breasts against his chest and wrapping an arm around him.

"Do you trust me?" She whispered.

Zenith swallowed hard. It was kind of tough to say no in this case.

"Why not?" He mumbled.

"Good answer," The Red Skin grinned.

Before Zenith could react, she suddenly slammed a beam of red energy into the ground and the cobblestone yard opened up beneath them. The unlikely duo was swallowed up in the darkness even as the earth closed up behind them. Blackness and mist rushed up to greet Zenith as the breath was sucked from his lungs. His head crashed against something and everything went black.