Okay, for those of you who don't know me, just call me Sakura! Now, usually I don't make fanfictions for video games. I also never made a oneshot before. This is just a random test to see how I do. If you Soul Calibur fans want me to make more, then send me a PM and I'll see what I can do, 'kay? Oh, just so you know, this is in Soul Calibur lll.

~Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Birds of Prey

Tira sat there in complete boredom. It's been a while since she's actually had a visitor. The last person that came through was her master, Nightmare, who's power she dared to question, and that fight ended with her on the ground in her own blood, warned not to cross him again.

There was only one or two people that crossed him and made it out alive, Tira knew. Siegfried was one of them, a blonde knight with a scar over the right of his blue eyes, the bearer of the spirit sword Soul Calibur, but she only knew the name of the other. His appearance remained a mystery to the young teenage girl. All she knew was that this mystery man wielded a thin blade and his name was Raphael.

"Why does he force me to sit here?" she grumbles. "I get irritated just thinking about him..."

She notices someone on a wooden platform, probably a part of the Ostrheinsburg Castle, floating across the river. "Oh?" she muses curiously. "And who's this man?" Her curiosity piqued her interest, forcing her to wait until the man's features were clear.

The man was blonde, well-built, and had the most beautiful set of brown eyes Tira's ever seen in a long time. He wore a purple jacket, had a red gold-trimmed mask, white slacks, and some sort of pendant hanging around his neck. And oddly enough, he wielded a thin blade.

"That has to be him!" she gasped, excited. "That has to be Raphael!" When the platform reached the bridge, she picked up her circle ring, her weapon of choice, and leapt over the edge of the bridge, landing softly on the other side of the platform, surprising the man.

Tira's violet eyes shone in delight. "You've been here before, haven't you?" she demanded, her tone cheery and full of awe. The blonde man swiftly prepared to draw his blade. "And who might you be, girl?"

"My name doesn't matter right now!" Tira giggled. "Just tell me yours!"

A strange child, he must have imagined. *And with the most curious set of violet eyes,* the man noticed. Her attire, most likely made by hand, was mostly a bright green. She had purple gloves and had strange purple marks across her abdomen and face. This mystery woman was dressed like a human form of a bird.

Her weapon, though, was unlike any he had seen before. He has faced off against staffs, nunchaku, iron swords, and lances. But a circle ring blade was certainly a first. Perhaps she's an assassin sent by the man with the scythe...?

"My name is Raphael..." he started, slowly drawing his rapier, pointing it in Tira's direction. "Raphael Sorel." He looked back into her eyes. "If you insist on interfering with my journey towards Soul Edge, then you'll be the next to die." Tira was tempted to take this challenge and fight Raphael, test his strength for herself. If it was enough to help destroy Soul Edge, then he must be very powerful!

"I follow the Azure Knight." she said airily. "If you want to get to it, destroy it or claim it for yourself, then you must go through me!" She lifted her ring blade, Aiselne Drossel, and brought it up to her right side, prepared to fight. Raphael looked at her, waiting for her to make a move.

"If that's how it is," he decided. "Then so it shall be!"

He rushed forward, taking a strike at the teenage girl. Tira dodges the blow, swinging her ring down on his rapier. Raphael swiftly steps to his left, just missing her weapon, and stabs her in the shoulder, then her right thigh. Raphael, holding the weapon in front of her face, thought about paralyzing her leg, make it difficult for her to do much, but he cast the notion aside instead scratching her back with the tip of his rapier.

A sharp intake of breath, Tira holds down the gasp of pain that threatened to be released as he brought his sword down. Raphael was as quick as she was, if not quicker. There was a certain air of elegance about him as they fought. She and him parried each other's blows one after another, making this more like a dance. Something she was quite skilled in.

When Tira stepped right, her left leg crossed over her right, he mimicked the action, he blocking her spinning ring and she countering his sword. She disarmed him quickly, hoping that she could stop him here, but Raphael jumped over the ring Tira cast to his feet, and landed to her left, kicking her face and sending her to the ground.

Slightly dazed, Tira opened her eyes to see his weapon pointed at her face once again. Tira knew that she was beaten. "You're quite skilled, child," Raphael commented. "I thought it difficult to use that ring of yours, let alone as quick as you have."

Tira smiled at the genuine compliment. "For someone who hasn't come in contact with my blade before, you succeeded, besting me in my own dance. Congratulations." Tira believed that this man wasn't going to change his mind about killing her, but was surprised when Raphael sheathed the Flambert and offered her a hand. Confused, she looked up at his mask, seeing the brown eyes she adored.

"I don't have to kill you to prove that I have won, you know," Raphael laughed, a gentle yet dark smile playing on his lips. Tira knew that anyone else would have killed her in a heartbeat. So why not Raphael?

"You are... one of the most powerful women I know," he confessed, almost as if he had followed her exact thoughts. "You're very beautiful as well. I've never met someone like you before." Tira stared at him, touched by his words. *No,* she thought quickly. *I follow no one but the Azure Knight. I have no other loyalties!* But she couldn't help but feel that he was sincere. If he felt that way for her as she did for him...?

Raphael was glad when the girl took his hand, helping her to her feet. He picked the fallen ring up with his feet, spinning it twice before sending it into the air. The green-clothed woman caught it single-handedly. She looked into his eyes and said, "My name is Tira. I am an assassin. Even if I've lost, it was a pleasure to duel you, Raphael."

"And a pleasure it was for me as well," he returned. She and him stood there for a moment, waiting for the other to make a move. She dug her ring blade into the wooden platform, taking his lips in a passionate kiss. Sure, it surprised him that she was so forward and assertive, but he enjoyed the moment nevertheless.

Tira stepped back, taking her ring, and said, "Perhaps we'll see each other again someday." A little chiché on the farewell, she knew, but this was all she could think of. "It was nice to see you, to fight you." She knew they were close to the same bridge she jumped off of.

"Farewell... Raphael Sorel." With that, she kicked off of the ground and grabbed the edge of the bridge. When she disappeared from his sight, Tira was certain he was confused, but it mattered not. She has a mission to accomplish. Tira lost against Raphael this time, but perhaps, on his journey back, they will cross swords once again?

~A/N: This is my very first oneshot in my fanfiction history, so please tell me how I did! Please Review! X3