Author's note:

Here's my latest work. It's an AU fic, set in a midieval town, along the lines of AD&D. This was inspired by Episode 12 of Tamers, namely Rika stabbing Harpymon in the back with a stick. As for coupling, I don't want to spoil anything just yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any of its associated characters.

She slunk through the alleys of the town where she lived and operated, just one more shadow among so many others. That was how she liked it, with nobody able to spot her unless he or she was really trying. It made it that much easier to do what she did best. She was a thief and, even if she did say so herself, a rather talented one. Her name was Rika Nonaka.

From her spot secluded in the shadows, she scanned the crowd for a mark, someone on which to ply her trade. Pickings were rather slim, as the town was not very rich, but as it lay only a short distance away from a popular trade route, there was quite often an influx of merchants stopping for the night. Fortunately, word among the local thief's guild was that there was a newcomer to the town; a merchant newly arrived just the last night. Rumor also had it that he was some sort of sorcerer only traveling disguised as a merchant. Rika laughed at these rumors, dismissing them as nonsense.

It was then that she spotted a figure moving briskly through the crowd along with several companions that Rika supposed were bodyguards, but she did not think they would present a problem. From the way the leader walked, Rika surmised that his money pouch was on his right side. Armed with this information, Rika slipped out into the town square, quickly blending in with the crowd.

Anybody who looked would just see a normal peasant girl. She looked to be about 12 or 13 years old, of medium height and slender build, mostly obscured by the rather ill fitting leather tunic and pants that she wore. Her black hair was common, but if one looked too closely, they would see her eyes, a most uncommon shade of lavender. Nobody paid her any attention, however, and she passed quickly among the crowd.

Perhaps she passed through the crowd too quickly, as she suddenly felt herself collide with someone and fell backwards onto her butt. She looked up, fear filling her eyes, and found herself staring into the face of her target, the merchant. He was at least six feet tall with piercing blue eyes and well-groomed brown hair, but his handsomeness was overshadowed by the expression of pure rage on his face.

"I… I'm so sorry!" Rika said quickly, scrambling to her feet. "I wasn't looking where I was going…" She hurriedly moved to smooth and dust off the man's robes, but he would not let her.

"Clumsy girl!" he snapped bringing his hand across his body. Rika flinched, anticipating the blow that she knew would come. This allowed her to move with the slap, and so she felt only a brief, sharp sting across her cheek. Still, the sound of it was loud enough to be convincing, and she played her part. Dutifully she lay sprawled on the ground, as if she had been hit full force. Rika wrenched her face into a grimace and sped off without another sound. She could here the merchant admonishing his guards. "What do I pay you for?!"

The crowd paid little attention to the incident, feeling only the briefest sympathy for the girl before going about their usual business. Nobody noticed when she flitted back into the alleyway, silently laughing at her good fortune. From a small pocket sewn to the inside of her tunic, she pulled out the prize she had obtained from the gentleman. While she would have preferred coins, the ruby she had stolen was valuable enough. It was about as large as her thumb, and even her inexperienced eyes could tell its worth. She tossed it into the air and caught it again several times, smiling as the sparse sunlight caught and reflected in its many facets. With any luck, the merchant would not notice it was missing until it was too late. Even if he did notice, there was little chance he would be able to find her.

She knew the usual routine. If he discovered it missing, he would talk to the guards and they would, in turn speak to the leader of the local thief guild. As Rika was a member in good standing of the guild, the leader would be unable, or rather, unwilling, to provide any information. The merchant would curse his luck, and the thief who stole from him, but as long as Rika stayed mostly hidden until he left town, he could do nothing else. Rika gave the ruby one final toss before returning it to her secret pocket.

She was so pleased with her theft that she decided to treat herself. Her 'clumsy girl' routine seemed to work, so as she left she tripped, knocking over a display of apples from a vendor's cart. She apologized profusely and had started to help pick up the apples when the shopkeeper shooed her away, not noticing that he now had two fewer fruits than before. Rika made her way to the small hill that overlooked the town, wiped one of the apples off on her shirt and bit into it, enjoying the flavor. It was on this hill that she spent the rest of the afternoon.

Back in the town, the merchant and his entourage returned to the hotel that they were staying in, having completed what they had set out to do in the town. The merchant dismissed his bodyguards and crossed the room, opening the cabinet in one corner. From this, he removed a parcel that he had arranged to come just prior to his arrival in town. It was almost as tall as he was, and it was obscured by a blanket. He removed the blanket and checked the mirror's surface for damage. It was oddly clouded, but there was no damage. Double-checking that nobody else was around, he stood proudly in front of the mirror and spoke several odd syllables. Almost immediately, the cloudy surface of the mirror cleared up.

However, instead of showing the merchant's reflection, it showed evil red eyes framed by a face that was most definitely not human. "What news have you, Ryo?"

"The preparations are nearly complete, my lord," Ryo bowed. "I was able to obtain the final ingredients in this town, just as you foresaw."

"Most excellent," the demon, for that was all that the figure in the mirror could be, answered. "Nobody has recognized you?"

Ryo chuckled, a truly mirthless sound. "No, my lord. Rest assured that none have recognized me as anything but a merchant." It disgusted him, being forced to assume the identity of a merchant, a man to whom money meant power. Ryo, however, knew that true power lay elsewhere.

"And, what of the other matter? Has the nuisance been removed?"

"He has, my lord. He put up a fierce fight right to the end, but not even his skill with a blade could overcome our sheer number."

"And what of his weapon?"

"Lost to the ages," Ryo smirked. "Never to be seen again. Now, nothing and no one can interfere with your glorious resurrection! With this ruby, I…" Shock spread quickly across Ryo's face as he felt within his robes for the gem, but failed to find it. "No!"

"Where is the ruby?" the demon demanded.

"M- My lord!" Ryo stammered, nervously backing away from the magic mirror. "This cannot be! The ruby is missing!"

"What is the meaning of this?" the demon raged. "Are you such a fool that you dare risk my wrath by letting the ruby out of your possession?!"

"I would never do such a thing, my lord!" Ryo said, dropping to his knees. "I swear I had it on me the whole time! Unless…"

"Unless?"

The shock and fear on Ryo's face immediately vanished, replaced with uncontrollable rage. "A young girl… She bumped into me… That little thief must have stolen the ruby!" He looked back up at the demon in the mirror. "My lord… I humbly beg your forgiveness and I assure you, I will retrieve the ruby!"

"You had better," the demon replied, "Else you shall feel my wrath, and suffer in eternal hellfire!"

"It will be done," Ryo pledged, rising to his feet once again. "The day of your resurrection is upon us. This I swear."

"Mark you well. There is one week until the planets reach the necessary alignment. If we do not complete the ritual at that time, I must wait yet another thousand years. But you will not last past the day." With that, the demon disappeared, the surface of the mirror growing cloudy once again.

Once more, Ryo stood in front of the mirror and spoke more bizarre syllables. This time the glass grew dark, and three dark shapes stepped out from the surface. They formed themselves into the shapes of men and kneeled before Ryo. Sneering, Ryo outlined exactly what he wanted them to do. When he was done, the three beings faded from the room, melting into the shadows.

Ryo laughed as he remembered her face, her eyes full of fear, fake as he realized it must have been. But soon, soon the fear in them would be true, the fear of pain, despair and death. Yes, he would bring fear to those damned lavender eyes…

Rika slowly opened her eyes and quickly realized that she had fallen asleep on the warm grass. She stretched, loosening muscles slightly stiff from lack of use. The sun was sinking low in the sky, signaling the beginning of the evening. She got quickly up into a sitting position and was about to head back into the city when she was a peculiar sight. Lying next to her, there on the grass, was a fox, its head resting on its paws.

"I see you thought it was a good resting spot too," Rika said, smiling at the animal. She looked the creature over, noting with surprise that its fur, rather than brown or red was a dull shade of gold. "How unusual… I'd be careful," she told it. "Some noblewoman might decide your fur'd make a fine ornament."

The fox got to its feet, yawning and stretching as well. It looked up at Rika and barked once, but did not move from the spot. Rika smiled in wonder and then remembered something. She reached into her tunic and pulled out the remaining apple. Slowly, she bent down and placed it on the ground at your feet. "Here, take it. I already had one."

Rika turned and walked back towards town, but stopped to look back at the fox. It sniffed at the apple carefully before looking up at Rika and barking once again. Rika could almost imagine that it had just said, "Thank you." Waving, Rika continued her walk into town.

The first thing she noticed was that place seemed strangely quiet, as though something were wrong. Rika paused, kneeling to pull out the dagger hidden in her boot just in case. Cautiously, she crept through the main alley, sticking to the shadows and pulling her steps to make as little noise as possible. She barely managed to stifle a yelp of surprise as she felt something grab a hold of her ankle and turned, raising the dagger to strike. She froze as she saw that the arm belonged to a friend of hers.

"Jeri," Rika said quietly, kneeling down next to the girl. Her mouth opened in a silent cry of alarm as she saw the blood covering the other girl's clothes and body. "My god! What the hell happened?"

"It… it… was horrible!" Jeri managed to say. "They're… dead! They're all dead!"

"Slow down," Rika said, her calm tone belying her nervousness. "What happened? Who's dead?"

"I- I was at the guild hall," Jeri stammered, "but then… these three men dressed as guards burst into the place! They said that something important had been stolen from some merchant, and wanted to know where it was. The guild master, of course, said that he didn't know anything. But… they wouldn't accept no for an answer… He still refused and then… they…"

"What? What happened?"

"They killed him! The leader just drove his sword into the guild master's chest! The other thieves tried to fight back, but… Oh god, Rika, it was a slaughter! They killed everyone… everyone! I… barely managed to survive by hiding under the dead bodies… You have to get out of here, Rika!" Jeri said desperately. "You… You're the one they're looking for!"

"For me? How do you know?"

"They said… They said they were looking for a young girl with purple eyes… So, please… Run away… As far as you can…"

"What about you?" Rika asked. "I'm not going to leave you behind!"

"Just go," Jeri insisted. "I'll… hide. With any luck, they won't find me…"

"All right," Rika replied in resignation. "Just… stay alive…"

A noise at the far end of the alley caught Rika's attention, and she saw the shadow of a figure enter and advance quickly. He was dressed in the uniform of one of the town guards, but his sword was already drawn and bloodied. He looked from the prone Jeri up to Rika and back again.

"Hey, you bastard," Rika yelled. "I'm the one you want! Come get me!" With that, she was off, dashing down the alley. The man paused for a second, looking at Jeri's cowering form long enough to see that she was not the one he was looking for. That done, he charged headlong down the alley after Rika.

Inwardly, Rika breathed a sigh of relief that Jeri would be safe but never paused in her running. Another shadowy figure appeared out of an alley in front of her, so she veered off down another path. She quickly cursed her luck as it turned out to be a dead end as the alley widened out into a larger courtyard between several of the buildings. Rika cursed loudly at how easily they had managed to trap her. Desperately she looked around, trying to find a way out, but there was not one besides the mouth of the alley behind her. That route was quickly blocked as the false guard with the bloody sword appeared, silhouetted in shadow. Soon he was joined by his two companions, and The swords and uniforms of all three were splattered with blood.

Their faces showed no trace of emotion as Rika backed up as far as she could. She felt her back press against the cool, rough stone of the building. She knew that she would never be able to defeat three trained swordsman with just a single dagger. Deciding that she would at least take one or more of them with her, she whipped her arm back, launching the dagger. She watched with some measure of grim pleasure as it flew through the air, imbedding itself in the leader's throat. He fell backward, choking for breath, trying in vain to dislodge the weapon.

'That's it,' Rika thought. 'It's over. At least I took one of them with me…'

Her last happy thought died quickly as the man with the dagger in his neck regained his balance and kept coming, his face showing no trace of pain and still no emotion.

"What the… hell are they?" Rika wondered aloud, pressing herself against the wall. It was then that she heard a strange cry and looked up to see the fox from earlier leap from the building, landing right onto the face of one of the men. It scratched and clawed for several seconds before jumping to the next man before the first could grab it. Finally, it jumped down and crouched protectively in front of Rika, growling loudly at the fake guards. They stopped in what must have been surprised but they quickly restarted their advance.

"What are you doing?" Rika asked the fox. "Get out of…"

Her words were cut off coming out of her mouth as the fox's body started to shimmer. Before her shocked eyes, the animal began to change, gradually turning humanoid. The fox's muzzle fell backwards, revealing a human head, and that the entire skin was, in fact, some sort of cloak around a woman's body. The false guards took several steps backwards as if they were confused, a feeling that Rika shared in. "What… Who… are you?"

"No time for questions!" the woman replied, reaching into a pouch on her belt. Rika could not quite make out what she was saying under her breath, but she finished it with a loud cry of, "Disperse!" Rays of light streaked from her open hand, leaving large cuts across the guards and sending them sprawling backwards. They moaned and yet did not bleed, despite the fresh lines that scored their bodies.. "C'mon!" the strange woman said to Rika, grabbing her around the waist.

"Wait, what?" Rika asked. However, before she could get an answer, the woman crouched and leapt several feet straight up to land on the roof of the building. Rika did not have time to protest as the woman sprinted lightly across the roofs of the town, carrying her effortlessly and crossing from building to building. After one final leap, she landed back on the hill outside town, carefully setting Rika back on her feet.

"We have to get as far away as we can. They'll recover soon and come after us." Grabbing Rika's arm, the strange woman turned to leave but Rika stubbornly held her ground.

"I'm not going anywhere! Not until I get some explanations, at least! Like, what were those things? Why were they after me? Who are you? Why are you after me?"

"All right," the woman sighed. "I see you're too stubborn to move until I tell you something. Those men were not human, they were a form of lesser demon, shadow spawn, and they want you for the same reason that I do. You stole something from their master and now they want it back."

"You mean," Rika said, pulling out the ruby she had taken earlier, "this, don't you?"

"Exactly. What it is and who their master is isn't as important right now as getting as far away from here as possible."

"In that case," Rika said, tossing the ruby to the startled woman, "you take it. You seem to be able to handle those things just fine, so I'll just leave you to it."

"That wouldn't work," she replied. "Their orders are not only to get the ruby back, but to kill you as well. Their master, and in turn his master, are very angry that you stole it from them. The only way you could possibly survive is to come with me, now." She tossed the gem back to Rika who reluctantly returned it to her pocket.

"All right," she said. "But, you owe me a full explanation later."

"It's a deal," the woman answered. "My name is Renea, by the way."

"And I'm Rika." She paused for a few seconds, looking back at the only place she had known as home and sadly closed her eyes. With one final, silent farewell, Rika nodded to Renea and the two of them were off, leaving the town quickly behind.