"Talking"

'Thinking'/Illusion/Remembrance

"Spell/Technique"

It Begins

When Tayuya first regained consciousness, she was struck by how warm she felt. This was closely followed by the sensation of heavy cloth on flesh, prompting her to open her eyes and realize she was wrapped up in a bundle of blankets, her head laying on an old fashioned down pillow. She felt momentary disgust at her unclean appearance, but pushed it out of her mind as her brown gaze locked on the diminutive humanoid working at the forge nearby.

He couldn't have been over four feet tall, and had brown hair in a mohawk that swept upwards in front. His arms were heavily muscled, and his beard and body proportions showed that he was fully grown, regardless of his height.

It was at this point that the events of the previous few days caught up with Tayuya, and she couldn't help the bitter laugh that forced itself from her throat. She had been catatonic, lost her mother's only memento back in the Oto (Sound) base, and killed Kabuto, the sadistic bastard of a medic. Then she had been transported via experimental seal to…wherever she was, and had to fight off an overgrown bee and wolf with her Doki (Angry Demons).

She suspected that the house she had collapsed in front of had been owned by this humanoid.

She began gathering chakra for an illusion, only for the humanoid to turn to her with a hard glint in his eyes.

"Best ye be haltin' your castin', girl. I won't have any fightin' in my house."

She immediately let go of her chakra, letting it settle back into her body. She gave the man a Look, causing him to stiffen at the unconcealed intent to kill in her eyes, before relaxing. Her voice was hoarse with disuse when she spoke.

"Whatever. You have me at your mercy, what do you want?"

The man blinked at her surrender, calling out in a shout directed towards the stairwell.

"Oi, Lloyd! Fetch me enough hot water to fill the bath!"

A small child's head of brown hair popped into view from the stairwell, and the kid, no older than six, nodded his assent and rushed out the door. The man turned back to her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yer not from around here, girl."

The redhead gave him another pointed look, an unsaid 'you just noticed?' in her eyes. She kept her silence, however, letting her gaze roam around the small house. Dirk watched her movements closely, noting how her gaze raked across anything that could be used as a weapon, and the calculating tilt of the head… as if she were assessing the danger of her situation.

"I propose an exchange of questions. I'll answer yers if ye answer mine."

Tayuya raised her head to look at him in the eyes, weighing her options before nodding her assent. The dwarf grabbed a crafted stone mug off a shelf and filled it from a covered bucket of cold water, handing her the mug. Tayuya drank slowly, allowing the water to moisten her throat. Her first question was a demand.

"I need to see a map, and I need to know where I am."

A bushy brown eyebrow rose in surprise, but the dwarf followed her demand, retrieving a parchment map, as well as pointing out the dot marked as 'Iselia' on it. The kunoichi considered the map for a moment, checking to see if it was a fake. The lack of forgery disturbed her, but only temporarily. A shinobi was forced to adapt to all sorts of situations, after all, and this was just the newest in a long line of them. Her verbal response prompted another raised brow.

"Well. Isn't this fuckin' peachy. Fuck you, Orochimaru-sama, and your shiteating lackeys, too. Fuck. You."

The soft footfalls outside denoted the return of the child, prompting Dirk to speak up.

"I'll ask ye to not curse in my house; there's a young 'un around."

The redhead grudgingly acquiesced to the demand. It would not do well to anger the person she could get information from when he could probably snap her like a twig in her atrophied state. The only other possibility would be to hold the kid hostage and demand answers, but that would likely end in a bad way. This possibility, that of an exchange of information, was high up on the 'best possible scenarios' for this situation. After all, according to the map, she wasn't in the Elemental Countries anymore. Orochimaru couldn't kill her here.

"What was that monster that carried ye here, girl?"

"It was one of my three Doki. I summon them and control them."

"Summoning? Those arts were lost for centuries!"

"I'm not from around here, remember?"

Their discussion continued as the young child, Lloyd, continued his trips to and from the well, bringing buckets of water which he heated over a fire and tossed into a large washtub made out of polished wood.

The questions were surface things, such as asking Tayuya what she did for a living ("I'm a maid") and vice versa. Tayuya recognized the dwarf wanting to hold off on the deeper questions until after the kid went to bed, and respected it, bowing her will to him as the superior in this situation.

Getting into the washtub was quite an affair. Tayuya refused to ask for help, dragging herself bodily into the tub, using a version of the Water Walking exercise on her hands to allow her to grip the water as if it were solid and pull herself in. The hospital gown was eagerly thrown away as a curtain was put up, and the questioning continued as the kunoichi cleansed herself of over a month's collection of dirt and grime, compounded by what she had collected in her last mission.

She was given a robe of worn cloth to wear, not being able to fit into either the dwarf's or the child's clothing.

As soon as night fell, the heavier questions were asked.

"What is it ye do for real, girl?"

"I am a kunoichi, a trained assassin."

This alarmed Dirk, though he didn't let it show.

"What can you tell me of this world?"

Dirk took a moment to gather his thoughts, then explained a compact version of Sylvarant's history. There was a goddess, called Martel, who 'slumbered in the center of the world'. An organization of half-elves, called Desians, harassed, pillaged, and generally acted as antagonists to the humans, and their bases were located in 'Human Ranches' where they raised humans for an unknown purpose. Iselia had a non-aggression pact with the nearest Human Ranch, and as long as no citizen trespassed, they wouldn't attack Iselia.

He expounded on the Journey of Regeneration that the Chosen would start on her sixteenth birthday. How it would regenerate the world that was withering away due to a 'mana shortage', causing crops to fail, lands to deteriorate, and population to decline. He wasn't sure of any other history besides that, as it was all 'human history', something he had no interest in as a dwarf.

His return question caused Tayuya to hesitate for a few moments.

"Yer turn, girl. History of your land and how ye came here."

Taking a drink of water from the stone mug, the redhead began her tale.

"I was never good at history, since it's a waste of time. My land is constantly in a cold war that breaks out into skirmishes and hidden wars constantly. There are five main powers, the hidden ninja villages, each in a country named after a main element. Sunagakure (Hidden in the Sand), Konohagakure (Hidden in the Leaves), Kirigakure (Hidden in the Mist), Iwagakure (Hidden in the Stones), and Kumogakure (Hidden in the Clouds). I was a street urchin from Kumo, and taken in by Orochimaru. He created Otogakure (Hidden in the Sound). I was one of his five elite soldiers, and our most recent mission was to attack Konohagakure, a village that Orochimaru has a grudge against."

She took another slow drink of the water to wet her throat before continuing.

"Konoha is the strongest of the villages, and treats its soldiers as family. Orochimaru hated that. He attacked the leader, the Hokage, while my squad-mates and I enclosed them in a barrier to prevent people from interfering. Orochimaru won, but he lost the use of his arms due to some weird technique. We retreated. Soon after, we retrieved Sasuke Uchiha, a kid whose body Orochimaru wanted to possess. On the way back to Oto, Konoha sent a squad of genin, kids barely out of the academy, after us. We kept leaving someone behind to deal with the brats, but they kept winning. I got left behind to deal with a Nara, a shadow controlling rat of a kid. Would've killed him, too, except that reinforcements came from Sunagakure. Stupid girl and her weasel summon destroyed the forest we were fighting in, and I was buried. Kabuto picked me up and took me back to the base, and tried to restore my ability to move my legs. I was catatonic, but he succeeded. I just have to relearn how to walk. Orochimaru had a deadline, though; I had to be ready to fight in a month or I'd be used to test a seal array. I didn't make the deadline, and took Kabuto with me when he activated the seal, killing him. I ended up in the forest nearby."

Dirk slowly mulled the information over in his mind, letting the redhead soothe her parched throat.

They talked well into the night, though the girl never told him of her past, nor did she explain how she was trained or why she hated Orochimaru and Kabuto so much.

They came to an agreement; Tayuya would stay and relearn how to walk, but she had to teach Lloyd rudimentary self defense. Dirk didn't dare ask her to pass on her profession to Lloyd, as he didn't want the child to end up like she did. The redhead had some reservations, and added some stipulations; she would need a house. If Dirk would help her with the blueprints and directing construction, she would use her Doki to build a house nearby. In return, she would keep Dirk's house clear of all monsters.

There were only a few ground rules to her stay in Dirk's house. She wasn't allowed to curse, she wasn't allowed to summon her Doki unless Dirk was the only one around, and she wasn't allowed to take hostile action. If any of the three rules were broken, Dirk would kick her out of his house, and would kill her if she appeared near his house again.

Progress was much faster in returning movement to her legs, and she was up and about in just four weeks. She stumbled and was uncoordinated, but she was at least walking. It took only a day to get her house built, as she didn't care for lavish decorating. The walls were built by interlocking fallen tree trunks, the roof thatched, and there was only a wooden bed and wooden washtub for furnishings.

She established a professional relationship with the dwarf, though it was strained by the knowledge that she was a professional killer. He couldn't help his instincts to protect Lloyd from her. Both were quite gruff in dealing with each other, and it brought a sense of familiarity to Tayuya, who grudgingly welcomed it.

She visited Dirk roughly once every four months to commission kunai and shuriken from him to replace those that she had broken in keeping monsters away from his house. After her third visit, he gave her a gift; a masterfully crafted metal flute. Her thanks were stiff, but genuine.

Every so often, she would visit Iselia, pawning off interesting monster parts for money; coins called Gald. The villagers apparently found the pelts from the monster rabbits to be quite fetching, and they sold quite handsomely. She used her earnings to purchase books on music as well as generic history books so that if she had to visit other areas, she wouldn't stand out as a foreigner.

At her home, she refined and practiced her combat skills, bringing her taijutsu and ninjutsu up from their abysmal levels. Since she was no longer specializing in genjutsu at the cost of everything else, she was able to cultivate her wind and lightning affinities, though she focused on wind. Through trial and error, she was able to create her own techniques. Her Cursed Seal was left alone as the consequences of utilizing it were quite dire, dissuading her from relying upon it.

Ten years later…

When the horizon lit up in a bright light, rivaling that of a star in the daytime, Tayuya chose to visit the village.

'Today is the day of…Prophecy? Whatever. Let's go see what this is all about.'

The twenty four year old woman had not grown much in the ten year gap, years of malnutrition in her childhood forever stunting her growth. She stood at 5'5", rather short for her genetics, with her dark red hair falling to the top of her shoulderblades in back, and to equal length in front. She wore a leather skullcap-like helm, plastering her hair to her head and preventing it from moving too much, even in high winds. The cap was a dark, mottled grey, perfect for blending in the shifting shadows of a forest.

Her clothes were odd by Sylvarant's standards, but perfect for her work. A mottled grey hard leather breastplate protected her upper chest, worn over a softer brown leather undergarment that prevented her skin from being irritated by the armor. The undergarment took the shape of a tank top, leaving her arms bare for optimal movement range.

Mottled grey hard leather pads protected her thighs, worn over a pale grey set of loose cloth pants. Her shoes were a sensible sort of slipper, keeping her ankle free for movement and keeping her footsteps soft. The slipper itself was made of leather.

Underneath her thigh pads, she kept a holster for a single kunai on each thigh. On the back of her right hip, she carried a round, grey leather holster for kunai, shuriken, and her flute.

With a leap, she alighted on a branch of a tree. Directing chakra to her legs, she contained it within her body and let it enhance her muscles, causing her to disappear from civilian eyesight in a blur.

Iselia…

She arrived in Iselia to find it abandoned. All the doors were closed and locked, and the general atmosphere was one of suspense. Taking refuge in a building's shadow, she peered around the corner.

Near the exit to the path leading towards the Temple of Martel, there were two humanoid figures as well as a floating amorphous figure loitering about. The kunoichi leapt to the rooftops and closed in, not recognizing the figures from a distance. She stopped roughly a hundred feet away, and was able to see details on them.

There were two zombies and a ghost sitting around. Without a living being in sight, they had no drive to destroy, and simply waited for one to arrive.

Slowly, a cruel smile slipped onto her face. As a child, she had been instructed to channel all the hate, rage, pain, and fear of normal day-to-day life into fighting as a kunoichi. As long as she could direct it and not be controlled by it, it would prevent her from hesitating, and would make her want to go for the kill rather than incapacitate.

Retrieving the two kunai from her thigh holsters, she sprinted forward and leapt off a house. As she fell from the sky, she spun while upside down and released the kunai at the end of the spin, enhancing them with the centripetal force from the spin. The two knives sliced through the air, burying themselves up to the hilt in the necks of the two zombies and dropping them like broken puppets.

She dropped to the ground roughly ten feet away from the ghost, which summoned a mallet from thin air and advanced upon her. Her hands moved into an easy set of three seals as she whispered her technique.

"Raiton: Denki Kutsuu. (Lightning Element: Electric Pain)"

With the vicious smile on her face, she shoved her hand inside the semi-solid ghost, amplifying the monster's natural electricity stored within its nervous system. The electrical overload over stimulated its nerve endings to cause immense pain and finally fried its brain, killing it after several seconds of torture. Had it been fully solid, its internal organs would have suffered some light scorching, as well.

As the ghost's eyes (a strange color of green) glossed over in death, she removed her hand. She swept her gaze over the corpses, retrieving her knives and snapping the necks of the zombies for good measure, having sliced their spinal cord but unsure if they'd still live.

She turned to investigate the rest of the town, but was halted when a blonde man with casual clothing and a worried expression exited one of the nearest houses. She adopted a relaxed stance, returning her knives to their holsters and gazing lazily at the man.

The man approached her warily, wringing his hands in obvious anxiety.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you a mercenary?"

Tayuya raised her gaze to the man's own, keeping her thoughts to herself as she nodded her assent.

'Why do I have to be the short one?'

The blonde dug in his pocket for a coin purse, which he offered with a hesitant smile on his face.

"I'm willing to pay you a hefty sum of money if you guard my daughter. She's the Chosen, you see, and I worry for her safety on the Journey of Regeneration."

Tayuya plucked the rather large coin purse out of the man's hand, rifling through it for a moment. The total came out to three thousand Gald, a large amount to offer up at once.

'On one hand, it's the equivalent of three of those monster rabbit hides. On the other hand…I get to find new monsters, possibly people, to kill. Oh, and I get to save the world like all little boys and girls dream of doing. Decisions, decisions…'

Despite her scorn of the lofty dream of 'saving the world', she accepted the task.

'It'll be a mission; escort the kid, kill the threats. Simple.'

"Thank you so much, miss! Colette is currently headed towards the Temple of Martel with two of her friends. She's blonde, one of her friends is a male brunette, and they have an elf with them. He has blue-silver hair. You can't miss them!"

With a humorless grin, she bowed out of reflex and held up a hand in a single seal. She disappeared in a puff of smoke, denoting a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

Arms limp to the side to preserve energy, she moved at a steady pace across the flatlands towards the temple. She arrived within minutes, and slowly ascended the staircase.

'Something doesn't feel right. I should have caught those kids on the way, and there's something up with the temple.'

A wounded Pastor made his way painfully down the stairway, and she caught up with him. Her mind quickly analyzed his wound as being run through with a short, wide, but thin bladed weapon, and that he had very little time to live. A part of her heart, blackened by cruelty, relished in the fact that she had no medic training and that she wouldn't be able to keep him alive. The rest of her heart was impassive to his impending death.

"D-Desians! They attacked…the temple…!"

A scornful expression settled on her face, and she lifted the Pastor by the front of his ornamental robes.

"Is the Chosen inside?"

The Pastor, afraid of her strength even when near death, replied.

"No, I haven't seen the Chosen yet. Please help the rest of the priests!"

Tayuya turned towards the temple and took off in a burst of speed, leaving the Pastor bleeding at the foot of the stairway.

She arrived at the entrance of the temple to see two humanoid men with armor and helmets threatening an elderly woman wearing ceremonial robes. A man with spiked hair and pointed ears wearing a one sleeved gray robe and metal greaves turned to her with an irritated look on his face.

"You! Where is the Chosen?"

Tayuya smirked, her right hand slipping into her pouch and retrieving her flute as she gathered chakra.

"I have no idea, asshole. Are you and your men threats to the Chosen?"

One of the helmeted lackeys drew his weapon, even as the unhelmeted man barked an order.

"Hmph. The Chosen and her ilk will all die. Vidarr! Take care of her!"

With his command issued, the half-elf retreated. Tayuya pondered on the merits of taking him down before he got too far away, but the blackened part of her heart let her let him go, wanting a challenge later on in the Journey. She returned her attention to the two henchmen, hearing heavy footfalls coming from inside the temple.

A heavily muscled man, easily eight feet tall, exited the gloom of the temple. He wore a metal helm with elephantine tusks jutting out of it, a green short sleeved shirt underneath a silver breastplate, black leather shorts that went to his knees, and metal greaves. In his left hand he held a large warhammer, and in his right, a flail.

The expression on Tayuya's face turned vicious as she raised the flute to her mouth. Chakra resonated through the air, carried by musical notes as the name of the technique blossomed in her mind.

'Mateki: Mugen'onsa (Demon Flute: Dream Sound Chain), a classic way to die.'

There was no hesitation as the haunting flute music surrounded the targets, her chakra only affecting them even as the elderly woman behind, and the mortally wounded pastor below were able to hear the music.

The sky bled orange-red as the three half-elves rested on a mountain of bones. Each looked toward the others, surprised and afraid as they felt the sun beating down upon their exposed skin. Wires, originating from somewhere in the bloody sunset sky, ran directly into their arms, holding them perpendicular to their kneeling bodies. They tried to move, but the wires held them completely immobile.

It started burning.

Their armor and flesh became liquid, dripping off their arms, exposing the muscular structure underneath with agonizing sluggishness. All three screamed in pain as their flesh melted away, their faces screwed up in agony and horror.

The red haired woman's face reflected her cruel glee, channeling pent up hate and rage into the illusion, making it stronger, more real. She was able to see, from her position some distance away from the kneeling captives, the skin on Vidarr's arm begin to redden in psychosomatic sympathetic pain.

Regulating her breathing as she was taught to do when playing her flute, her keen hearing caught the sound of footsteps at the bottom of the stairwell. She distinctly heard the voice of a small boy, a teenage girl, and a slightly older teenage boy.

'Perfect. The Chosen finally arrives. Where the hell was she? Fucking around in a forest?'

Unwilling to let her captives go, she decided that she would make a good first impression. After all, if they fear her power, then they would be more likely to listen to her in times of battle or stress. With a flare of chakra to catch their interest, she deepened the illusion. She accurately tracked the progress of the sympathetic pain by the flesh on Vidarr's arm.

She watched it gradually blacken as necrosis set in from being constantly irritated. She could hear the three getting closer, but her eyes were riveted on the bulky man's arm, watching the flesh crack as pus leaked out of the corroding tissue.

Phaidra hadn't moved in the past few minutes, too shocked and horrified by the brutality taking place right in front of her to move. The sight of her granddaughter appearing, however, brought her out of her trance.

"Colette! I'm so glad you're safe! Desians attacked the temple, but this young woman…stopped…them."

Her joy noticeably drained off towards the end as her attention was brought back to the huge man's arms, which were now bleeding a mixture of red blood and yellow pus.

Tayuya cast her eyes towards the Chosen, affirming the familial resemblance to the blonde she had met in the village. Her identity confirmed, she brought the flute away from her mouth, though the genjutsu would continue for a few moments yet.

"You're the Chosen, right?"

The bubbly blonde chirped in reply.

"Yes! I'm Colette! Pleased to meet you, miss…?"

The redhead strolled over to one of the henchmen, snapping his neck with a loud crack, moving on to the next and repeating the gesture. She returned the greeting with indifference as she continued 'working'.

"Tayuya. I was hired to protect you by your father."

Within the scorching world, Vidarr could only distantly realize his comrades had disappeared. His arms had melted down to the bone, which was steadily bubbling and beginning to liquefy as well. A bone arose from the mountain, floating in front of the tortured half-elf. It sharpened itself into a stake and plunged directly into his heart, not slowing in the slightest as it pierced his chest.

The half-elf collapsed in the real world, his heart stopping from the sympathetic pain from the illusion. It began beating after a few moments, though the lack of oxygen in the brain forced him into unconsciousness.

Turning back to her charge, Tayuya assessed the Chosen and her companions.

Colette. Long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a painfully optimistic expression. Reminded her of an urchin brat from so long ago. The girl was holding onto two golden rings which gleamed with an edge. Chakrams. Her outfit was white edged in purple, a short over-robe worn over purple leggings with white shoes also carrying purple trimming. Slim, muscles not very defined.

Mystery number one. Dark blue eyes, silver-blue hair, naturally spiky, ending just above his shoulders and hiding his ears. Carrying a…kendama? (wooden mallet with a wooden ball attached via string) The kid fought with a child's playtoy? He wore a blue jumpsuit with short sleeves and legs. The loose jumpsuit was offset by a slightly longer tight black shirt underneath it, as well as equally tight black leggings, probably to preserve warmth. No muscle definition.

Mystery number two. Brown eyes, windswept spiky brown hair. Painfully eye catching bright red shirt with many, many buttons. Well made, however. Red leather gloves, a blue gem set in golden metal on the left hand. Blue overalls with leather for straps, also very well made. Red leather boots. A ribbon in the collar of the red shirt ended in two 'tails' in back. Two well made leather belts held two sword holsters, one on each side, which were currently occupied with wooden bokken (practice swords). Definite muscle definition, roughly that of a 'fit' person, but still a far cry from physical perfection.

'That's a lot of red.'

It wasn't a particularly intelligent thought, but it was quite…obvious.

Soft footsteps alerted Tayuya of another arrival, one who immediately drove a longsword through Vidarr's neck.

"You missed one; he was still alive."

Unwilling to admit she had missed it, having quit listening for a heartbeat after the first few seconds, the redhead rounded on the newcomer.

"Damnit, I wasn't finished with that fucker!"

The newcomer actually blinked once in surprise at the outburst, his deep voice echoing her statement with confusion.

"You weren't…finished with him?"

The redhead 'lamented her woes' at the man, a tinge of fake pride in her voice as she assessed him as a threat.

"Monsters around here are too stupid to appreciate my music; I can only use it on intelligent, rational beings, dumbass!"

The man had spiky brown hair that covered his left eye, the right being a reddish-brown. He was rather tall, compared to the shorter, and still growing, other three. He clothed himself in long blue-purple leggings and a matching vest. Matching arm warmers covered his arms from mid-upper arm to wrist, ending at pale lavender fingerless gloves. Two matching pale lavender belts covered his stomach, and smaller versions of the belts covered his mid-shin. His feet were protected by what looked to be metal plated boots, but they disappeared into his leggings, preventing Tayuya from properly identifying them. On his waist, his longsword was sheathed to the left side. On top of his mostly-purple ensemble was a matching blue-purple swallow-tailed cloak with matching pale lavender interior.

It actually caused Tayuya's eye to twitch.

'Purple. Overwhelming.'

The man casually looked over her, giving her a calculating once-over to assess her capabilities as a warrior, having caught her doing the same to him. She had to at least give him credit for that, as he was at least observant enough to know when he was being assessed as a target.

The man introduced his purpose, withholding his name as it seemed the redhead wasn't going to introduce herself.

"I am a mercenary."

Tayuya brought her flute back to bare, brown eyes narrowed.

"Were you hired to eliminate the Chosen?"

The man held up both hands in an expression of peace, explaining.

"No. I had heard the commotion from nearby and was going to offer my services."

Phaidra, who had been unnerved and extremely disturbed by the brutal and bloodthirsty woman her son had hired to protect her granddaughter, quickly spoke up.

"Please, I would be worried about Colette with just Tayuya protecting her. May I hire you to protect the Chosen as well?"

The man accepted the task, his eyes wandering over the Chosen's companions, though they settled on Mystery Number Two and widened with shock. The expression was quickly hidden, though Tayuya noticed it, filing it in her mind for later.

"Grandmother, I am going to undergo the trial and accept the Oracle!"

Colette chose this moment to speak up, catching Tayuya's attention. Phaidra nodded her head indulgently at her chipper granddaughter, moving out of the way to allow entrance to the temple.

"Very well, Colette. Tayuya, sir, I hope you guard my granddaughter well. The world depends on it, after all."

Mystery Number Two broke in at this point.

"Hey! I'm going, too! I won't let Colette go by herself with those two."

Tayuya leveled a disinterested stare at him, while the mercenary made his displeasure verbally known.

"You will only be a burden. Go home."

The blonde girl, looking vaguely apologetic and nervous, toed the floor as she piped up.

"Um…sir? Could Lloyd and Genis come? They're my friends, and they're pretty good in a fight."

The warrior blinked in surprise again.

"Lloyd? Your name is Lloyd?"

"Yeah, but who are you to ask my name?"

Tayuya's disinterest quickly evaporated due to bubbling irritation. Her fingers twitched, wanting to belt the boy over the head for his arrogance. The mercenary looked irritated, replying without changing his indifferent tone.

"I am Kratos. If you're coming with us, at least make yourself useful. What do you say...Tayuya, was it?"

The redhead blinked once, casting a dispassionate stare over both the small boy and the teenager armed with bokken. She shrugged her shoulders, turning to head into the temple.

"If your stupidity kills you, I'm not burying you."

The group of five turned towards the dark halls of the temple, readying their weapons as they entered.

Author's Note: I have discovered that I enjoy the needless cruelty. For those of you readers who are religious, may the Lord have mercy on Tayuya's enemies' souls, because she'll keep her cruelty towards sentient humanoid targets. After all, they're the only ones who can 'fully appreciate her music', and none have ever survived her melodies.