You come here often? (Kyuubi)

[Anonymous]

Rath grinned a bit, pleased that she'd been the first to use the word 'interesting' in lieu for 'weird'. "The side effects of wielding my magic." He answered curtly, focusing mainly on exiting the forest. As day began to break over the horizon, the sky fading towards a dusky blue, he doubted he needed to retain his post. Twisting his head down, he wrinkled his nose at her. He couldn't imagine her swinging a sword about, the slight girl. She probably would be out-balanced by her weapon if she attempted a physical attack, and that mental imagery had him biting his lip. But, he quickly fell into a frown at her uttered thoughts, turning his attention back to carving a path through the brush with his free claws. "If you lack a passion, yes." He scowled, picking up his pace, "If you were my daughter, I wouldn't have let you near a sword to begin with. Maybe a dagger. Seems more appropriate, don't you think?"

[Anonymous]

Shadow listened to him, smirking bitterly at the last sentence. "Ah...well, lets see. If you were my father, then you wouldn't have let me near the sword, but I would have snuck in and stole it while you weren't looking. And you would dislike me very much." She looked a bit amused though. It struck her amusing that he would say that. She thought of her sword. She said, "Nothing could be a better weapon for me. After all, this sword is my soul..."

[Anonymous]

Rath didn't think much of the last thing she said, that her sword was her 'soul'. A lot of the infantry in the Serendipity militia referred to their weaponry in endearing ways, so he merely rolled his eyes at her confession, and trudged on. He hadn't skipped a beat though, when he'd said "I'd have to spank you, then.". The way he'd spoken it was as if he hadn't been being lecherous at all, but the telling wolfish grin on his face betrayed his voice. "Come on, now. We're almost... here." He announced at last, stepping out towards a beaten dirt path where his horse was so dutifully stationed. The dappled grey mare shook her head worryingly at the sight of her rider, spooked from his mere presence. Rath scowled, causing her to flatten her ears nervously. "Damned horse... The biggest coward in the world."

[Anonymous]

Shadow rolled her eyes right back at him, catching the grin on his face. "Oh, you'd try." She looked at him, studying him for a moment. Then, she said, "Hm, you know, I kind of like you, but I think.." She glanced at the horse, then at him again, "That you are most likely going to throw me in some damned jail or send me off somewhere." She turned her back to him, crossing her arms. "It's not like I kill people just for the hell of it. I do it so I don't die. If I don't kill who my usual boss says, then my soul gets taken away and I obviously die, so stop being Mr. Justice." She looked over her shoulder irritably at him.

[Anonymous]

"Oh? Is that what you think of me?" He replied, clutching emptily at his chest in mock hurt, "Let's make up a hypothetical situation, shall we? Let's say... I gave some damn about Serendipity, for whatever reason." He waved his hand in the air flimsily, as if the notion were far fetched and ridiculous, "What would you have me do? Woe is you, you're forced to kill people, shall I ... let you live? Or is it selfish, do you think, that you would prefer to kill so many of these people as opposed to losing your own life?" His feet swept the dirt about as he walked towards her, vivid eyes narrowed ominously at the back she'd turned on him, "The way I see it, this is one of two things. Either you're afraid of death, in which case locking you away would be the best way to protect you from the orders of your master," He hissed the last word sarcastically, and stopped suddenly just behind her, "Or you don't give a shit about the people you're killing, thus deserving to be put away in jail to protect the citizens of Serendipity, and you, from yourself." His fingers rested lightly against her shoulders, contrasting the venom of his words, "You'd already said you'd come with me. Are you a liar, now, too? I guess it would only be fitting. A killer, a liar, a coward..."

[Anonymous]

Shadow had closed her eyes before, her head now facing the way she was. She whipped around at his last sentence. It was more than she could take. She narrowed her eyes at him, hissing at him with a hint of a growl, "You do not understand a word of what I'm saying! I am forced to call him my master because my soul is fused with his in the most literal of ways, and if I disobey him, he will take my soul, because he is a demon!" She scowled. "And, beforehand, there are things worse than death." Her eyes stared into his. "Is it easier for you to understand now? You can't 'help' me, and if you lock me away, I'll just creep out in the shadows, without a choice. And then, if he decides to kill me, you'll have a demon on your hands too."

[Anonymous]

Rath stood immobile, and refused to flinch - or even blink - in the face of her temper. His eyes bored back at her, unwavering and luminous in the gloom of daybreak. Despite what she said, he found it hard to sympathize with her in any way, and if he did, he'd be damned if he'd let her know. "Demon, assassin... Do you have a good side, woman?" He replied in a tone laced with annoyance, but continued on with the undertones of some morbid curiosity, "So, if you and he share a soul, then that singular soul is currently animating one object. Your body? Or..." He glanced down at her sides, searching her hips, "... your sword!" She had said her sword was her soul, hadn't she? The knowledge had him grinning wickedly, and as he brought his focus back up to her face, he was licking the razored edges of his fangs like a predator anticipating it's prey. "Fancy that. You'd told me the answer before I'd known what my question was..."

[Anonymous]

Shadow frowned, sighing. "Yes, I know. And that's why I don't use many other weapons." She arched an eyebrow at him. "You're acting like it was the discovery of the century." She rolled her eyes. She started pacing around the small area, looking less annoyed than before and more neutral. "There is a reason that you don't need to go take me away for being a menace to society." She spat out the last words in a bitter manner. "My sister will most likely gain the power and knowledge to kill me within the next few years. Few meaning at most 5. So, look, there isn't a point in taking me away if I'm just going to die anyway." The fire died in her words, and now she was just speaking in a monotone almost. "I could prove it if I showed her to you. She would talk all about killing me, that's her life's ambition." She looked darkly amused. "You know, if you want to assassinate the assassin before her sister has a chance, go ahead, but she'll probably be pissed."

[Anonymous]

Rath was irked by her nonchalance for revealing the key to her demise. One would think a person would keep quiet about such personal, vital information, and Shadow was acting as if the fact held about as much weight as revealing what her favorite color was. Wasn't it troubling she'd already told mageknight about her soul-bearing sword, and he'd known her for only a little over a hour? But he was about done listening to her story, as he was interpreting it more as a plea for mercy than as idle chit-chat. And Rath didn't readily fork out mercy to murderers.

"That's convenient." He remarked boredly, regarding her with half-lidded eyes, "If you let your sister kill you, that is. Still, don't you think five years is a bit long for an assassin to be wreaking havoc, despite her...tragic circumstances?" Rath pivoted around on his heel to saunter over to his less-than-noble steed, and began to unwind it's harness from the tree he'd previously anchored his horse to. "Listen, girl. Don't start to pretend that you're the only one in this world being victimized. Like there isn't anyone else in the entire country of Serendipity who has to share their soul, who has a short life expectancy. Don't presume you're the only one for even a mile from here. Or in the next five feet around you." Now, with a coiled length of rope in his arms, Rath fixed it about his mare's saddle. Just next to the small, silver badge welded into the leather's face, the one that marked the mount as the property of the Serendipity militia. "But, I'm feeling generous." He sighed in exasperation, bracing his forehead against the horse's neck. His eyes were lightly shut, though every other sense was standing at attention, ready for even the slightest of indications that she might be preparing an attack on him. "I'll give you one more minute to make your decision. Are you coming, or not?"

[Anonymous]

Shadow looked at him, a bit curious. Something about him did intrigue her. Perhaps it was just the fact that they were both of the darkness, even if in different ways. She felt like he understood her in a way, even if he was not ever going to say so. She nodded slowly, and said, "Sure, I'll come. After all, there's nothing you can do to me to make my life worse, so..." She put a hand on his shoulder lightly as he had his eyes closed, looking a bit annoyed. "Why are you acting like I'm going to kill you any moment, sir?" She took her sword off her back and put it at his feet, backing away from it. She knew it couldn't do anything unless she was holding it, so he was in no danger. Although, he couldn't use it, but she didn't expect him to try. "If that makes you feel better, so be it. Just...it's rather annoying."

[Anonymous]

The light falling of footsteps had Rath's hair standing on end, but he didn't move an inch to face her. Instead, he slid an open palm down the side of his horses' shoulder, feeling the coarse and thin pelt beneath his fingertips. If she'd pulled her weapon, or made any attempt on his life, he could at least rely on his steed to whinny and thrash and race away nervously like the coward it was. Indeed, a reliable mount as a security system, but not so reliable as a source of transportation. He licked his lips, forcing his body to relax despite her hand on his shoulder.

"Why am I acting like you're going to..." He parroted her incredulously, then whirled on her so violently that his cape had smacked his horse's ribs, "Woman, if you'd told me you were a florist, I wouldn't be expecting you to kill me. I would be expecting you to look at flowers." But he hadn't been able to finish his scolding, as he was busy looking on in disbelief as she relinquished her weapon and even retreated from it. It was perhaps the most downright stupid thing that Rath had ever seen anyone do, but the thought behind it was endearing. Though, it still didn't help that a single swipe of her 'ghosty-shadow-hand' through his chest was enough to almost knock the wind out of him.

Rath plucked the sword from the ground, pinching the hilt of it between two long fingers as if he'd expected the thing to perform some hex on him for touching it. And it was a little personal, he felt, to be man-handling someone's soul, so he'd uncomfortably dropped the weapon into a leather bag dangling off the mare's saddle. "Annoying? Are you suggesting other people are less biased towards assassins? Maybe in Zantaric, beautiful, but not here." He'd laughed darkly as he hoisted himself onto his horses' back, somehow just hopping it without so much as a stirrup, and outstretched a hand to assist Shadow up in the spot before him. He'd rather her keep her hands where he could see them, you know. "Don't worry about coming up. She's only afraid of sharp objects and... well..." He looked away pointedly, tapping his chin with a claw in thought, "...me."

[Anonymous]

Shadow shrugged at his comparison to Zantaric. Well, people everywhere thought she was going to kill them any second. She looked thoughtful. "Sharp objects, huh...." She took off the jacket she was wearing, as there were plently of sharp objects in it. "Well, I am an assassin, so you can't expect me to have only one weapon." She handed off the jacked to him and smirked as she grabbed his hand, getting pulled up onto the horse's back. She said, "Look, at least I was honest with you in telling you who I was. Hey, and also, assassins don't kill everyone. They kill who they are ordered to, and in my case, that happens to be nobody."

[Anonymous]

Rath wanted to smack her.

The grey mare had been watching the woman warily, ears flattened down into her salty-white mane and head lowered like the skittish thing was prepared to fly off at any moment. It was true what her rider had said - she only feared sharp objects and Rath. So when she'd slid her jacket off, much to Rath's flustered scowling, the horse stomped her front hooves in an anxious beat.

As he curled his hand around the folds of Shadow's jacket, the distinct clinking of metal versus metal that was oh-so-familiar to a mageknight had him quickly shouldering it. God forbid his mare should see even half the sharp objects that riddled this jacket, he would be bucked off before he could take his next breath. Begrudgingly, he hooked an arm around the girl's middle, and used his other arm to take up the horse's reins. "I know that, woman." He growled over her shoulder, "And it'd be just my luck if someone had a copper and a desire to see me dead. I doubt you'd turn it down, hmm?" It was strange to Rath that she hadn't tried to kill him already, what with her disturbingly accurate suspicions that he'd take her to jail, but he wouldn't voice it. He was smarter than to bring it to her attention, but he could already imagine what she might do if she'd discovered that he was a mageknight. It was just a matter of getting there before she found out, so as they trotted down the path, he braced his chin against her shoulder and sniffed her hair idly. As long as he could distract her, even by being a complete creep, it would be child's play. "What's your name?" He murmured, his voice half-muffled in her hair, "I won't use it against you. Promise. Mine's Rath."

[Anonymous]

((Sorry if it seems that she's all-knowing or something; I didn't mean for it to be that way. I just kind of figured she'd be pretty darn used to traps and games.)

Shadow smirked to herself. She found this little game quite amusing. The fact was, even though it seemed quite the opositte, she was still holding the cards. She could technically just litterally melt into the shadows at any point in which she wanted to escape, and he couldn't destroy her soul as long as he didn't know her name. It was an odd thing about the sword. But, even Shadow wasn't her real name. So, he could not kill her at any point in which he wished. Of course. She chuckled. "Nice to know your name, Rath. Funny enough, I think I heard some information about you while I was sent here to kill a certain person. Well, I know you're not that person, because you do not fit the description whatsoever, but I was told there were guards, and you must be one of them, no?" She looked up with only her eyes, saying, "My name doesn't matter to you enough for me to say, hm? After all, you're just playing a funny little game with me, and I'm just playing along with you." She sighed. "Ah, why do I bother?" She looked into the sky, which was slowly turning from night to dawn. She muttered a curse. She could only freely travel in the shadows in night. There wasn't enough time. She appeared to be fading, quite litterally, and said, "I am a being of the night; I will have to leave you now."

[Anonymous]

(( Aww, she doesn't at all! When I write, I stick to the same diction and thought processes that my character has, so it doesn't reflect what I think at all. xD Don't worry. ))

Rath's scouting mission was issued from the very top, and while his identity as a mageknight was no secret among Serenians, he was merely one of many. And just a Hyoite human, to boot. The fact that Shadow had any information on him had him reeling with suspicion. He wasn't particularly sociable, spent most of his time at the training grounds or scouting for Mordecai, so how had her employer come to know of him at all? Suddenly, the name she'd offered up previously became dozens of times more valuable than before. He couldn't help tensing behind her, and berated his body inwardly for giving away his emotion at such a critical time. "No. I'm not a guard." He informed her blankly, wrenching his face out from between the locks of her hair so he could peer over into her face. She seemed.. upset? And the sound of her cursing had him quipping an eyebrow at her, but unable to speak in response. "W-Wait..." He urged her quickly, trying to spin her about on the saddle to face him... until he noticed she was losing her opacity. His eyes widened. "What the hell, woman?! Being of the night my ass!" He growled, pricking her shoulders with his claws as he attempted to anchor her down to earth before she... evaporated? Rath couldn't figure it out, but he'd be damned before he let her say all that and just vanish! "Where are you going?!"

[Anonymous]

Shadow chuckled. "'Being of the night my ass'? A gentleman you are." Then she shrugged. "You don't need to know where I'm going. Why would I tell you? You'd just follow me there." She smirked a little. "Plus, I have no idea why you'd like to follow me, let alone be near me, if you're so worried about getting attacked or killed by me." She was slowly fading, her voice becoming more of an echo from nowhere. "I also should say....wherever anyone tries to keep me, they come back to find that I have....faded away." Her smirk almost seemed to hang in the air after she 'dissapeared', like the cheshire cat. "If you feel you do not want a cursed sword with my soul within it, meet me tomorrow night in the spot that I first saw you." She literally faded into the darkness, gone completely. Her sword remained with him, as well as her jacket.