The Shadow with Sapphire Eyes

The night sent a chill down her spine, but it had nothing to do with the cold air. She held the child's hand, not wanting her near but somehow feeling protective. And though this was an uncommon emotion for Teresa of the faint smile she could not help but feel this way now.

As the young girl child had followed her into the woods she had stumbled upon a dead body. A man with his head twisted backwards, blood leaking still warm from his lips. His eyes stared at the both of them as if pleading for eternal rest. Something was out here. A yoma? She couldn't tell.

As they proceeded deeper into the woods she would hear the distant sounds of fighting and yelling. Blades clashing for a second, cries and screams and then all would fall deftly silent. That bothered her, blades crashing against one another, but yoma would also pick them up, still. There was no sense of him. No yoki or anything. Was there more then one? Was it ... an awakened one? What?

And they weren't killing rapidly. She'd hear the cries of men yelling to one another as death cries were heard. Battle? Two brigands meeting one another? She asked herself this but had no answer. But one side was definitely winning against the other.

The galloping of a horse nearby, crashing through the brush heading straight towards her bothered her. Before she could decide what to do a light was blaring from a torch in her direction.

"Over here!" one man yells and rushes her, crashing his blade against her own. She brushes the attack aside and kicks the man back as another leaps from the woods with his blade over his head. Teresa pulls the girl aside letting the man land on the floor with the blade sinking into soft earth. As he gets up she kicks him in the stomach, pushing him back.

"What is wrong with you!?" she yells. "Are you insane?"

The two men stand, staring groggily. Their eyes grow wide and they turn towards one another then back to her with angry scowls.

"That's not him."

"Him?" she asks.

"Yes, him," a voice responds from above her as a blade is pressed against her throat.

She turns to stare into the dark eyes of a man with long reddish hair and sharp face. His eyebrows and ears are lined with many pierces.

"We're looking for a guy with black hair tied in a pony tail. Has blue clothes and a pack and a strange sword at his side. You seen anyone like him around here?" he says while lifting her chin with the blade's edge.

"No," she answers coldly.

The man laughs, smiling with sharp teeth. "You're one of those witches, aren't you? A claymore." He leans close to her, his foul breath on her ear. "Maybe you can help us out here."

She turns towards him and snarls, "I don't kill humans. It's against our law."

He draws his blade away pointing it at the young girl who clings to Teresa's leg. "Well maybe we can convince you. If you kill the guy we won't hurt the girl and we'll say we never saw you kill a human and just leave. But if you don't help us.." with this he licks his lips. "We can always kill the girl and say a claymore did it."

Teresa glares at him. "Don't try me human."

He leans back laughing. "Ha! Ha! Did you hear that boys? A claymore threatened me!"

The others nod in mockery of her. He turns towards her raising his blade once more. This is when something crashes from the tree above her, slamming into the man's face. The shadow comes quickly, taking advantage of the man unbalanced on his horse. With the blade gleaming the shadow strikes, tearing through the leather casing of the pack and crunching through the flesh and bone of the man's face as his weight drops the man to the floor. The horse whinnies in agitation and leaps away, dashing into the underbrush.

Teresa watches, staring at the shadow as his blade twist in the flesh and bone, grating against the edges and crunching. The young girl clutches tightly at Teresa's side, gasping quietly. Teresa watches, sees as the blade is withdrawn in one swift motion from the twitching body, blood spraying softly into the night air. The shadow turns towards her slowly, his face covered in blacks, only the color of his eyes illuminated. A bright sapphire in coloration.

"He got the boss!" one of the men yells. "Get him!"

The two men rush and the shadow turns to confront them. With blades held above their heads they run at him and the nearest loses his hands in a fluid arc, the blade crashing to the floor with hands still holding on. Staring in shock the man has no time to scream as the shadow's blade is plunged deep into his throat.

The girl at her side screams loudly. Teresa watches distractedly now. Hearing the bone crunch as the blade is twisted out of the man's throat and torn away, blocking the incoming attack of the other in one sweep. With the girl pulling at her, she has no time to watch.

She bends down and picks the girl up, lifting her into her arms and leaps away into the darkness. Leaping from tree to tree away from the shadow. She can hear the girl sobbing against her chest, feel the warm tears on her body and the thumping of her heart racing in her form. What was that? What was that? There was no yoki! Nothing at all! Why didn't I detect him? Why? What is he?

As she leaps through the trees she knows one thing for certain. That man isn't from the organization.

******

He hadn't needed to jump in like that. The woman was strong. Stronger then he. That he knew. The blood flowing through her, like nothing he had yet seen here! Comparable to his mother's power, beyond him. Like none here.

Something grips Kaede's leg. He looks down, staring into the face of the sweaty man with his pained expression, trying to withdraw a blade from pocket. His bowels are split open for the earth to touch, the wound running up to his chest. He won't survive even if Kaede left him now. He withdraws the sword quickly and plunges it into the man's skull. There is the crunch of flesh, the body arching with the attack and then its flop as the blade is withdrawn.

He turns towards the direction of the woman. She was not only strong, but considerate. She had taken the girl with her, to protect her then? And her body... her face. She was beautiful. Her colors were a pale light in the darkness, like the shining of the moon. The radiance of her long blonde hair that fell in waves, her silver eyes and dressed in white from head to toe. She most resembled an angel in his eyes. The thought of her made his heart ache.

But he had to be careful this time. He shuts his eyes considering, breathing softly. In his own world he had been rejected under multiple occasions because of his need to consume extra water which could not support the needed for a regular being. He had learned to conserve but always he had needed to journey to forest of Samatra near his desert home to regenerate. The woods there were frightening. Constantly in movement, humming with their voices and running their branches over one another, trailing other limbs over the floor looking for more food. They would moan, howl and yawn in the wind with their cacophony of sounds. Here, everything was silent. The living trees still except for the wind blowing through their leaves. And water was abundant in the moisture of the air. So the concern of the women in his world was not one here. But he had been told they were harsher here, not as accepting. That the male trailed after the woman and sought her, wooed her instead of the other way around. He sighs. "Fine. I'll.."

There is a rustling of the woods behind him. Since trees here do not move he knows only one thing it can be. His blade flashes as the stranger comes into range out of the brush. His eyes shine brightly with the brilliance of the blade just before it strikes taking off the upper half of the man's cranium. A gentle spray of blood and the body falls back without sound.

Normally he would not kill like this. But it felt more like war here then hunting. One alone could not abide by the law kill only what can be consumed. Still.. he'd try and stick as close to the law as he could. He withdraws his blade and leans down over the fat one carving into his flesh. He had lost his stores of yoma when the brigand had attacked and now he needed to replenish his reserves, something to take while walking the trail. He'd need something to snack on. That woman, he got the impression she was a mover, always moving from place to place, never staying in any one area for long. He would need something he already carried to keep her pace.

When he is done collecting what he can he picks up his pack and turns towards the direction of the woman. Her scent was still in the air. Similar to the yoma, something reptilian, but smelling strongly of a human as well. He sucks in the air, letting it filter through his nostrils, feeling what makes her individual.

Slowly his eyes open and he turns eastward leaping into the trees from that direction. As a shadow he moves from tree to tree heading in the direction of the white woman.