My feet barely brushed the ground as I darted along the tracks, a swift black shadow running on the other side a few paces ahead of me. I saw the brilliant red back lights before I saw the body of the train. I pushed myself even farther, pumping my legs to catch up with it. The other shadow had disappeared on the other side, hidden by the train and I gritted my teeth. Slowly reaching out for the door of the last carriage.

I made a leap for it and sighed in relief went my hand curled around a cold metal handle. I kept a firm hold on the tin door with two hands while my long hair flew out behind me wildly. It was a rush, 'catching' a train as it sped along deserted empty fields. The wind was icy, slamming into my face and forcing me to squint. Somewhere in the dark distance I could see lighter shades of colour. Snow.

Well it is winter and this is Russia, the freezing deserted parts past all major cities up in the extreme north. "Now", a gruff voice yelled out and I let my grip slacken and through myself off the train, landing with a hard 'thump' in a deep pile of snow.

My head poked out of the cold whiteness around me and looked up at the disapproving face standing over me. "Get up", he commanded and his hand reached down, pulling me right out of the pile in one go. "There", he told me pointing in the north, "The city of Vrousk". I could make out the large shadow of a wall surrounding what should be the city.

"Hurry up", he said in an annoyed tone and I pushed my way through the deep snow, my nose bright red from the cold. "I'm like a reindeer…" I grumbled to myself, Kanda hadn't appeared to hear me. "But you're the cutest reindeer of them all~!" I could already hear what Lavi would say if he was here and groaned, trudging after my partner.

The brick walls were crumbling, broken glass covered the pavement and there wasn't a person in sight. "Definitely deserted", I mumbled as I heaved a pile of planks out of my way. Kanda had gone ahead, moving silently in the shadows of the broken buildings. There was a homemade sigh dangling at a weird angle above a collapsed doorway, it read something that I think was similar to the Bakery in English.

Komui had shoved a Russian translation book in my face just before we left. "What could have done this…?" I wondered aloud with a sad sigh, I could only imagine how many people lost their lives and all their hopes and dreams when this city was destroyed. "Hey Kanda, did the booklet say what they thought happened here?" I asked in a loud voice.

Silence followed and I paused my inspection of another sign, turning around slowly. "Kanda…?" My voice seemed loud amongst the dead silence even though it was a whisper. I took a step in the direction he'd been going when something cold clamped around my mouth.

I thrashed against the cold skin, my yells muffled by the hand. "Shut up, damn it! They'll hear us!" A hard voice hissed in my ear and the hand came off my mouth. Kanda was close behind me, his hands like ice. "Who?" I said softly. He grabbed my arm and pulled me with him into a small dark alleyway.

"Akuma, level 2. There are at least ten of them out there searching". I frowned in confusion, "Searching? For what?" He exhaled in frustration, "The innocence of course. No doubt it's a big one, with how many its lured here". He seemed annoyed by this and muttered something to himself. "Well, what do we do?" He looked down at me again, carefully appraising me.

"You stay right here, I'll get the innocence". I started to protest but he bent down to my face with narrowed eyes. "You can't fully utilize your own innocence yet. They'd turn you to dust in seconds". I scowled at him and pushed his face away, huffily taking a seat on the damp ground. "I'm not as useless as you make me out to be you know…" He gave me a 'che' and started out of the alley. "Just stay here, it's for your own good".

My hand twitched. My eyes darted back and forth in the dark. I wasn't cut out for this 'waiting' business, I couldn't handle it. Knowing what a headstrong guy he is, he'll be the one getting hurt not me! My thoughts were bitter and I grumbled again. Finally I leapt to me feet, scurrying to the end where Kanda had left from and peeked out. The street was still empty, but now I could hear faint explosions in the distance.

"That idiot", I muttered and stepped out into the faint light. It was sometime just after 1am and the moonlight still shone brightly down onto the street, illuminating my skin and casting long shadows. There was a slight breeze and loose strands of my hair blew out behind me, strings of red.

I listened more carefully to the explosions and turned down a different street, "Definitely this way"; I murmured to myself and tried to quieten my footsteps.

I had no idea what Kanda had been blabbing on about, I couldn't see any Akuma anywhere, I was positively the only living being in the area, beside's him of course. "What a liar!" I said huffily, my thoughts turning bitter once more. "Just trying to keep me away from the fabled 'action', ridiculous". I kicked a plank of wood out of my way then stopped, taking a seat on the ground, my feet over the gutter.

"He didn't have to lie", I mumbled softly, it sucked being alone. That liar doesn't even count as a person anymore in my books "Young lady? What on earth are you doing out here?" A panicked voice called out, not very loud but enough that I could hear. I snapped my head around to see a short, plump man in a grey suit staring at me from around a broken in door.

I said nothing at first, assessing him carefully, he didn't seem harmful. "Please, get out off the streets, those monsters will find you and eat you!" He seemed so distressed I carefully ducked inside after him.

I took not more steps away from the door, there was a small lamp lit, the flame burning dimly inside. From what I could see, this shop used to be a bookstore, tattered pages lay strewn across the floor, some covers ripped off, others not and all covered in dirt. It seemed the man's suit suffered the same fate as the books; it too was dirty and tattered.

"It's not safe out there", he informed me, pulling up two flat pieces of wood and covering them each in a thin blanket. "Is that so?" I kept my tone light, trying not to seem too interested. "And…how did this all happen?" I had taken a few more steps forward and was standing behind the piece of wood opposite the man. He was looking down at the lamp, his eyes dark pits of coal. Suddenly I felt tension in the air and the man looked up, his face twisted and distorted under the lamp's shadows.

"Oh, when my comrades and I destroyed it…exorcist!" His sharp toothed grin reached up to his ears and my eyes widened and he stood, his body jerking strangely. I starting stepping rapidly towards the door, my eyes glued to the newly revealed Akuma in front of me and didn't look where I was going. I tripped over threshold and landed with a smash on the street.

I grabbed at my throbbing elbow and gaped at the Akuma. "Time to die", it hissed and lunged forward.

My scream cut through the air like a knife, I bet even Kanda, wherever he was, could hear it. My eyes were squeezed shut and my scraped hands covering them. My heart wouldn't stop racing, it felt like my stomach dropped a few hundred meters, leaving me feeling sick. Then, against my cheek, I felt a soft reassuring touch.

My eyes opened a little; peeking through my fingers and watched the fluffy white feathers flutter in unison around me. My hands fell into my lap and I reached out, touching my velvety white wings. "You really did appear", I whispered in amazement. The support my innocence seemed to channel through me gave me courage.

I kept my safe wall around me for a moment longer, visualizing my attack and let them unfold, my eyes tense and my body ready.

There was no one in front of me, no Akuma, no man, nothing. I frowned and looked around. My innocence couldn't have destroyed it…could it? A shadow appeared and I leapt back, my instincts taking over. A lizard-like Akuma, no doubt the one from before danced before me, a long slimy tongue protruding from its mouth. I grimaced and shivered but stood still. Letting my eyes close and my innocence guide me.

My guide drifted to my hands, lifting my hands up to my back where they pulled two large feathers from my wings, I felt no pain when they should have plucked them out but ignored it. My eyes opened at the much heavier weight suddenly in my hands. The feathers had reshaped themselves into two large sharp curved stars, the edges gleaming in the moonlight.

It was like I already knew what to do, I let my mind take over from instinct and my hands grasped the stars.

I flung them out swiftly; they slashed through the air and came right into contact with the Akuma, taking it by surprise. It cut right through it, the body bursting with a brilliant light until nothing but a few pieces of metal-like material were scattered on the ground.

I grinned smugly, useless am I? As if…ba-kanda, my thoughts laughed and sounded happy using the nickname Allen often used for Kanda. I felt that familiar sharp sting as the wings slid back and disappeared with a flash of light into the black tattoos on my back. I did a little test with my fists and smirked, I was going to show him.

I'm a force to be reckoned with. With a chuckle I set off in a run down at the street, heading towards the sounds of explosions.

It was quite a scene. A small figure in a black and silver coat wielding a glowing sword and fighting against five Akuma. I sighed, what a reckless idiot. I was watching from a high ledge, the Akuma had created a huge hole in the ground, about twenty-five meters deep, I was standing at street level. The road crumbled a few meters in front of me and led to a steep fall down to the bottom.

I wrinkled my nose, the idea of falling to my death didn't really appeal to me. Something occurred to me, I reached back to feel my back. "The wings", I mumbled, "Wings...could I fly down there?" I frowned; Kanda had been right about one thing earlier, I didn't know how to use my innocence very well, not enough that I could defend myself but flying was something on an entire different level.

I considered the idea, my flaming hair blowing around my face, similar to the fiery flames created in the battle below. "I'll never know if I don't try", I decided and took a step forward, closing my eyes like earlier. Innocence, please guide me. Let me fly on golden wings and fight for my partner and myself. I took a deep breath and whispered the words "Innocence activate".

The wings unfurled from my back, even bigger than earlier, white and fluffy. I felt them, they felt me, and we were one, one essence, one being. My eyes snapped open and I pushed off from the ground, springing high into the sky, the wind rushing by my ears like sirens. As I reached the end of my jump, tens of meters above the ground, the wings reached out.

Then I was soaring, sailing through the sky, my wings catching the wind and allowing me to drift lazily. My arms shot out, mirroring my wings and I let out a whoop of joy. I couldn't keep the grin off my face, it was the most amazing feeling, and no words could even begin to describe it. I left as light as air, my body singing with bliss.

I glanced far down below me; I could see the fighting has paused momentarily to see the girl flying above them. I grinned and took another breath, my guide told me what to do.

My arms came up over my head, like I was going to do a dive and I started to plunge, descending rapidly. As I did my arms came back down to my side, pulling out another pair of large feathers as I did. I felt them change and become sharp and heavy and grinned. The ground was getting even closer and just before I hit I pulled up, flying just above the rocky ground.

My arms spun out, flicking out my stars and destroying two Akuma. I had caught most of them unawares but one was too quick. It fired two shots, one at me as I ascended up again and one at Kanda, who was distracted by my sudden show of skills.

I narrowly darted out of the way, the shot still managed to hit the corner of my right wing and I cried out, feeling the burn go through me and seeing the bloody mess on my tip. My eyes flitted back down and widened.

Kanda. He wasn't going to see it in time. My voice, the scream it released echoed across the battlefield, calling out his name.