Part 2 : Unforseen Defeat
AN- I got around to updating. I kind of had to. I also am going to update any other stories if they need it.
Enjoy Chapter 2 version 2.0.
"Well this was a bust." he murmured, staring at the gloomy cave in front of him. He'd been traveling for hours, and the sun was setting rapidly. He had walked through brush, thick trees, branches that seemed to want to claw his face off...he had had enough. "Argh! If that jerk's not in here, Im going to drink myself into a coma like state." And with a grunt, he pulled out a flashlight and stepped into the dark cave. A bad feeling crept up upon his neck, but he pressed onward, his flashlight soon becoming the only source of light inside the cave.
There were quite a few things in the cave; bats clung to the ceiling, taking a peacefull nap. Water dripping into some unseen lake that didnt exist. Moss that gave the whole cave an earthy smell mixed with a moldy one. It wasn't completely unplesant, nor was it a place he would want to set up a summer home in. His boots made an echo that was starting to creep him out, but he was more worried about waking up the bats. More importantly, he was worried that his target would hear and go deeper into the cave which he was starting to hate even being in. The flashlight shone upon the walls, making the cave even brighter. He eventually caught a new scent, more fresh yet still posessing that earthy smell.
"Bingo," he thought to himself, and his feet suddenly became ten times quieter. An occasional rustle of his clothes and the clack of his pistols were the only noise he emited. He turned off the flashlight, and the cave became a black and white image. Darkvision was a handy thing for anybody to have, but it would not work with light around. He barely had it on for more than five minutes when he came upon a campsite, with a fire roaring brightly and several items lying around. Food packets of various sorts, mostly ones that would last for long periods of time. Ramen, was the one that caught the eyes of Kuro.
The campfire roared loudly. It seemed like there was no one around, but the fire continually made the shadows dance along the walls, and keeping Kuro on edge. The scent was masked by the smoke of the fire, mingled with the smells of the food that had been prepared earlier. "This was a bust," He lamented silently, but he kept his eyes sharp on the darker spots in the large area of the room. He didn't know how- perhaps it was a sixth sense- but he knew that somewhere, someone or something was watching his every move. Growing fustrated, he stamped his foot and yelled, "Come on! This is getting real old!"
It was a good thing he moved his body, for it made him able to move quicker in the small ammount of time he had. After yelling, a clear, melodic voice had yelled out an incantation, and a huge wave of energy flew at him. But since his body was active enough, he slammed himself backwards and down to the ground, only feeling the immense heat from the blast. About time, he thought, and his pistols were the first things in his hands when he got back to his feet. The fire wasn't bright enough to illuminate the whole area, which was bigger than he guessed after the blast had lit up the place. This was bad, as his guns held a special clip in each, a stunning dart, and they were his last. He always questioned the people he captured, irregardless of the price of the job or the background.
Twenty-four shots seperated him from resorting to violence. In a move of desperation, he muttered his own little incantation, and a stream of fire flew out and hit the campfire, enlarging it and making the whole enclosure visible. He quickly darted around, scanning every little area he could see. Mere moments later, he spotted who fired the blast. However, even with his honed skills in combat and reflexes, his first thoughts were not to bring up his pistols to fire. They were just questioning thoughts, wondering why in the world he was fighting... "A girl...?" She was up and about as he said it, obviously preparing another spell.
She had black hair, but as the light danced upon it, it seemed to shimmer blue as well. Her eyes were like frost, cold but gentle, and they were as clear a blue as possible. Her clothes were of a blue hue as well, simple robes and a skirt. She had a dagger in a leg sheath, and was unarmed other the fact that her hands had sharp nails. Sharp nails! No human has sharp nails. She couldn't be... His worst fears were confirmed, just as he caught sight of her tail and ears. They were of no feline heritage, nor wolf. They were of only one kind of animal, and he grimmaced as he thought it. Of all the humans, no, not humans, not demons, but HALF DEMONS I had to be put up to find, it had to be a half fox demon.
Any fox demon would tell you the tricks they could conjure up, and you wouldn't believe it. Not untill they had robbed you of all your clothes and possessions, and then you found yourself strangling a straw dummy. They tricked people out of humor, but rarely do fox demons go astray and do their tricks on the innocent out of spite or greed. Though they do have a few black sheep, they were usually mild tempered and sound of logic and mind. But they find humans facinating, and usually do not breed. But whenever a human and a fox demon breed, the offspring retains the ability of trickery and deception, but with a human adaptation backing it, it grew even more powerfull.
Not my day. Sooooo not my day.
As soon as he found the wits to fire off a dart or two, it went right through the image and dissapeared in a wisp. He paid for his mistake with a blast of cold water from behind, knocking him into a wall. Skill alone would not serve Kuro's purpose here, and he would have to resort to his own forms of trickery to combat this wily vixens abilities. He fired off dart after dart, hoping that one would hit the mark. Sadly, none hit the mark and the aftermath was a mere three shots left in a clip. He quickly holstered the empty pistol, and kept sharp, looking around and continued to hope. But it wasn't long before she used more shadow images, and Kuro fired at each one of them, with a resounding click that almost sounded like a shout to the fox demon, saying "Im out of bullets!".
The vixen, aparently relieved that she could now knock him unconcious, did a dive directly at his back. What she didn't expect was for him to do a flip, moving him over her, and slamming his foot down on her back, causing her to crash into the floor with a boot keeping her pinned. Kuro, glad that she wasn't unconcious and fell for the trap, bent down with his boot firmly keeping her down. "Now that I have your undivided attention, perhaps I can ask you a few questions miss...i'll just call you foxy." He gave a small laugh, but she was far from amused. "Go to hell." She meant that almost literally, and she exploded into a fire that seemed like a dragon had just sneezed on him. But after he had recovered from the heated blast, she was long gone, and kuro was slightly burnt in varied places. With nothing to go on, not even the slightest hint of her scent, he stormed out of the cave, enraged at how easily he was overtaken.
But he came to grips that she was no ordinary half demon. She had high powered magic, the tricks of the fox demon, and the skill to match. It was an even battle, but one he would feel that would sorely wound his pride. He took a breath of fresh air, and stared at the stars. Long gone, but an interesting challenge. But what exactly is going on? Why would someone want me to hunt down a half breed, let alone a fox demon? Even with small weapons, they couldn't do that much damage... The air around him seemed to thicken, but he merely limped back to town, mulling over his thoughts. Something was off, and he was detirmened to find out what. If he was paying attention, however, he would've heard the occasional rustle on the windless night, one that just lurked out of sight.