TAON gun blurb

"Things could be worse!" Ferkely shouted at me.

"I don't see how they could get any worse," I shouted in reply.

He grinned slightly. "We could be dead." I rolled my eyes, that was his comeback for everything. I didn't know how to explain to him that there are worse things than being dead, not that'd he'd listen anyway.

I carefully glanced past the tree trunk I was hiding behind. There were two enemy soldiers slowly sneaking their way toward us. A crack sounded through the air and I whipped behind the tree again. They had strange weapons; black and boxy shaped. The weapon itself didn't look very intimidating, but I'd seen it take out other members of my team and even kill one. This was not something to be trifled with.

When sneaking a glance toward Ferkely I noticed he wasn't hiding anymore. I looked around quickly. From the enemy's side i heard shouts and bangs, then silence. He didn't seriously run right at them, did he? A careful peek past the tree showed that he had indeed run right at them. The two enemy soldiers lay sprawled out next to each other and Ferkely was already rummaging through their things.

I gently picked up their weapon and looked it over. Even up close it wasn't menacing. It was shaped like an "L" with something like a handle on the short end and a hole on the other. I tried holding it the way I'd seen them hold it and pressed down. A quick crack and jolt from it made me drop it immediately. I shook my head, the enemy had strange weapons alright. Ferkely picked it up in turn and examined it himself. He didn't seem to be as phased by the explosion or jolt it made.

"This thing's got a lot of kick to it, huh?" and he twirled it around his fingers.

"You probably shouldn't do that, we still don't know how it works and you might hurt yourself."

"I know enough. You hold it like so, then press down on this bit here with your finger and point at what you're attacking." For all he seemed to know about it, he was still rather clumsy and the weapon slipped on his finger, accidentally starting it and shooting right into the enemy leg he'd grabbed it from.

"What did i just finish telling you, eh?" I muttered, snatching it away. "We should take this with us, have the higher ups look at."

"Now don't tell me even your higher ups don't know what gun is," came a voice from just behind us. We drew our swords and looked cautiously about for the source.

"Relax relax, i'm not gonna kill you," said a man as he walked out from the shadows, hands up. He was in his early twenties, lean and with a michevious glint in his bright red eyes. He had on the clothes of a civilian but from his dark skin and strong aura, he wasn't just your average passerby. And then it hit me. I grabbed Ferkely behind the head and forced him into a kneeling position with me.

"What the bloody-" he started.

"Temsha." It was a whisper really, but more than enough for him to drop his jaw. The stranger smiled.

"You're a quick wit, ain't ya? But you've gotta be, you're one of my own after all." He crouched down in front of us and looked each of us over in turn. "You don't have to be so shy you know, I won't bite you." he laughed and sat on a nearby log.

"You're really him. Temsha, god of fire?" I asked hesitantly, my question sounding more like a statement.

"And earth, everyone seems to forget that bit"

"I like this guy." Ferkely said and he high-fived the god.

"What are you doing here?"

"That's a question for later," he said, brushing it aside. "More importantly, do you really not know a thing about guns?"

I held up the blocky weapon from earlier, "this thing?"

He reached out for it and I tossed it in his direction. "Yes this 'thing'. This is a gun. If you don't know what they are, it explains how you've been getting mowed down by your enemies. You guys don't even know how to protect yourself." He shook his head sadly.

"What should we do about it then, Mr. Temsha?" Ferkely asked.

"First off, my name is Love." The stranger responded immediately.

"Loaf? That's an odd name for a god." I hit Ferkely hard in the back of the head.

"Love you twit, Love. Not loaf." Love didn't seem to mind too much and was actually laughing at us.

"As for what you should do, I'd take that up with you ruling authorities. After all, they're the one's in charge of the military." He stood up and dusted off his pants and coat. "Now then, I have things to do, but it was nice enough talking to you."

"Maybe we can help?" I asked, making to follow him.

"I think I can manage torching a military base on my own." He grinned and patted me on the back. "But thanks for asking."

He walked off toward our base and i watched him in shock. I gritted my teeth and mentally slapped myself, how had i not realized it sooner? He wore a solid black captains hat with a silver emblem of a skull on it, a mark of the enemy. I swore under my breath, drew my sword, and charged him. God or not, i couldn't let him attack our base. Ferkely was right on key with me and drew his sword as well and began to charge Love. Before either of us could react Love turned around with lightning fast reflexes and shot. Ferkely fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach which was beginning to grow dark with blood.

"I missed on purpose ya know. You're both nice fellas an' I don't really want to kill you, but I can and I will if you try something like that again." He had the same lighthearted tone as earlier but it carried a sinister edge to it as well.