Kismet vs. Bandits, Scene v1

Here is the written scene for the picture my brother has been working on for me. Please leave comments on what you liked or disliked about the scene. Also, feel free to suggest changes, or what to add/remove.

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The dawn sky appeared as if stained with blood, casting an eerie red glow over the woods. Birds greeted the morning sun, filling the air with their morning chatter. Kismet peered at the bandit camp in the distance with her yellow cat eyes. Her tail waved with excitement, tapping Sara’s face as three more bandits enter the camp...

Sara flinched away, glaring at Kismet. “Mind moving your tail out of my face, you fur-faced freak?”

Kismet’s feline ears twitched as Sara’s hisses disrupted her focus. She squinted in annoyance and whipped Sara’s face once more with her tail before calming it. Sara snarled with anger and reached out to strike Kismet.

General Devin restrained her arm with a forceful grip. “Deal with it later on your own time. You have an assignment to focus on.”

Sara snapped her arm back reluctantly, and resumed watching the bandits below, mumbling to herself. Devin rolled his eyes and glared behind him at General Raze, who perched herself atop a tree root, watching amusedly. Devin backed away from the ledge. “It seems the stolen jewels have arrived at the camp. Lucas and Kismet, sneak around to the storage tent and recover the jewels. Sara, position yourself so you can provide assistance if necessary.”

Sara waved her hand in front of her face, “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Devin sighed at Sara, “Go now, the patrol is leaving the camp. We’ll be observing from here.”

The three recruits headed toward their positions. Raze walked to Devin’s side, both watching the three first-timers descend the hillside. “Is this your idea of some sort of payback?” asked Devin.

Raze chuckled. “Maybe.”

“I still don’t understand. You just had to give me these three, didn’t you?”

She smirked. “I have my reasons.”

Devin, rather curious to Raze’s reasoning, began thinking aloud. “Sara I can maybe see, since she’s proven herself to be the greatest marksman around since last decade, but let’s face it, her personality is impossible to deal with. Not only that, but forcing her and Kismet to work side-by-side? Anyone can see that’ll cause a world of problems.”

“A perfect way to test their determination, is it not?”

Devin laughed. “You really are a sadist, aren’t you? Alright, how do you explain Lucas then? He’s definitely not an ideal candidate.”

Raze turned her attention back to the trio cautiously descending the slope. “I guess I really am a sadist.”


The three recruits came to a stop and reassessed the situation after descending halfway down the hillside.

“The Great Goddess must enjoy watching me suffer, placing me in the same squad as your sorry hide,” snorted Sara. “Why don’t you go back to fawning over Princess Delphi like you always do?”

Lucas watched Kismet nervously as she grit her teeth. Kismet exhaled heavily. “Let’s go, Lucas.”

Kismet and Lucas darted off toward the rear of the camp while Sara crouched in waiting. As they approached the camp, Kismet and Lucas slowed their pace, stepping lightly around loose brush. Sneaking behind the patrol, they reached the storage tent. Kismet crept behind the guard, and snapped his neck with one swift motion. She quickly dragged his body out of sight as Lucas slipped inside the tent. He flinched when he saw another bandit inside who was hunched over a small table, sifting through the stolen jewels.

Oblivious to who actually entered, the bandit continued his inspection. “Hey, come take a look at this ‘ere diamond. It looks kinda fake to me, wha’ d’ya think?”

Lucas remained silent, trembling as he slowly inched his way closer. The bandit turned around slowly, calling out behind him, “’ey, you hear me?”

Panicking, Lucas drew his sword and lunged forward. Seeing his attacker through the corner of his eye, the bandit instinctively rolled to the side. A thin line of blood sailed through the air as the cold, steel blade sliced the bandit’s arm. The stolen jewels shower over the floor as Lucas lost his footing and crashed into the table.
The bandit stared wide-eyed at Lucas as he backs against the tent wall, grasping his wound. “Empire!”

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air as Lucas’ blade pierced the bandit’s heart. Bandits throughout the camp rushed out of their tents toward the scream with blades in hand. Crouching out of sight, Kismet swore under her breath with frustration at Lucas’ carelessness. Peering around the corner, Kismet waited for her moment as two bandits approach the tent, with archers at the ready across the camp. The bandits close in on the tent as Lucas scrambled about, picking the jewels off the floor.

Kismet pounced on the nearest bandit, causing his head to slam against the ground, which rendered him unconscious. The second bandit panicked at the sight of the feline body before him, unsure whether to fight or run. Kismet wrung the confused bandit’s arm behind him, spinning him around as arrows were sent flying in her direction. The bandit screamed out in pain as arrows pierced his body, one of which penetrated through his arm and into Kismet’s.

The enemy archers became distracted when birds took flight from the trees to the West. An arrow pierced through the sky and killed one of them, sending the rest into a panic. Kismet yelled into the tent, “What the hell is taking you so long? Are you trying to get us killed?”

“S—Sorry! I think that’s all of them,” stammered Lucas.

Another arrow sailed through the air, sending another archer to his grave. Kismet dropped her human shield as Lucas ran around the corner of the tent. As they approached the rear they become surrounded. Swinging his sword wildly in fear, Lucas cut down the foe before him, and kept another at bay.

Kismet rammed one of the bandits into the one close behind him, knocking them over. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

Kismet darted in front of a panicked Lucas and cleaved the interfering bandit across the face with her claws, leaving him screaming in pain. She shoved Lucas toward the trees as a bandit’s blade grazed her back. A heavy kick followed that knocked her to the ground. Kismet quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the bandit’s stab, and got back on her feet. She bared her fangs at her attacker with a threatening hiss. Fear struck the bandit as Kismet darted toward him. He swung his sword, but Kismet ducked under the attack and elbowed him in the stomach. The bandit collapsed onto the floor. Kismet escaped into the woods, pulling Lucas behind her.

Kismet came to a stop after traveling a safe distance from the camp. Lucas collapsed to his hands and knees, out of breath, as Kismet sat against a tree. After catching his breath he looked up at Kismet and cringed. Blood trailed through Kismet’s thin fur as she gouged into her already-healing wound with her claws. She winced in pain as she continued digging through her flesh.

Lucas stared with disgust and confusion as Kismet’s blood dripped from her fingertips. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Don’t bother me,” snapped Kismet, never taking her eyes off her wound. “We could have finished the mission flawlessly if you weren’t so careless.”

Lucas clenched his fists in frustration. He knew she was right. He rose to his feet as Sara approached them. Sara shielded her eyes and looked away from Kismet with disgust.

“That’s disgusting!” she blurted. “For heaven’s sake, do that when people aren’t around.”

Ignoring Sara, Kismet painfully pulled a large splinter out of her arm and flung it on the ground. She twisted open her water canteen and poured it over her wound as Devin and Raze arrive. The young recruits watched them anxiously, anticipating a dreadful evaluation. He glared at each of them, and then at Kismet’s arm, which began a new trail of blood.

“That—“ Devin shook his head. “I don’t even want to know what happened down there.”

A subtle grin of confidence crept onto Sara’s face. Devin looked over his subordinates once more before continuing. “I’ll commend you all on escaping with so few injuries, but that little mistake nearly cost two of you your lives. It seems we’ve overestimated the three of you.”

“General,” interjected Sara. “You mean just the two of them right? I did exactly as I was told and —“

“The three of you are a unit,” interrupted Devin. “The mission either goes well, or it doesn’t.”

Lucas lowered his head in shame as Sara continued to plead, “But, General—“

“That will be all,” declared Devin, ignoring Sara. “You are all dismissed until further notice.”

Devin and Raze departed toward the castle, speaking softly amongst themselves. Sara welled up with anger, watching them walk off.

“I can’t believe this. On my first assignment—I mean seriously, what the hell happened?” yelled Sara, swinging herself around.

“Sorry, I—“

“No, you know what, I don’t care. I just can’t believe the two of you had to ruin my big debut. Even General Raze, leader of the Elite, was here watching and you had to mess it up! At this rate, the two of you will just keep dragging me down and ruin my chances of being invited.”

Kismet sighed as she began walking off. “All you ever do is whine.”

“Why don’t you just go lick yourself? I can’t believe I’m going to have to put up with your ugly face. It almost makes want to quit just to save myself from the misery.

Kismet rolled her eyes and quickened her pace back to the castle.



Next: Delphi in the Gardens, Scene v1