Hey people...Usual disclaimer: Kaen, Cayden, Valen, Blade and Jance all belong to us. Calikite belongs to me. Everyone else does not. More crazy skinning (not too graphic) and some sheer pointlessness that comes along with New Year's Eve. Which reminds me...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Alright. I'm done. Enjoy.

"So, you hear about that little punk they've spotted down in the slums?" Valen asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously. He was a long time friend of Erol's, a bit on the quirky side, but with a good heart. "I thought you'd be interested."

Erol gave him an intrigued look, "No, I haven't, at least I don't think I have. This recent?"

"Just came in this morning. Seems like you've got a follower," the man grinned, "or a critic." He cocked his head. "You sure you haven't heard?"

"If it's that new, definitely," Erol sighed, "My new assignment's been keeping me," he paused, "busy. What's the deal with the kid?"

"Oh, the brat went out and got your tattoos and has now begun to publicly mock you. Or, that's what everyone's saying," Valen shrugged. "Can't trust people nowadays, so I wouldn't read too much into it." A smile crept onto his face. "That aside, how is your new job going? Heard you had to work with that...what's their name..."

"Kaen," Erol snarled automatically, "She's a pain in the neck, or in the jaw, take your pick," he flipped back to the original topic, "So, there's some punk kid running around with my tattoos; is there? They don't know what they've just gotten themselves into, got anything else on him?"

"Not really. Runs with a gang called the Weaps or Weapons. No history on him...impossible to find, at least by any of our means," he explained, rolling his eyes at the word 'our'. "I thought about asking Black Ops, but it didn't seem that important and I'm not talking to Cayden unless I have to."

Erol laughed, "I don't blame you, even I get out of his way when I see him coming, and I'm the superior officer. Thanks anyway," Erol suddenly looked thoughtful, "I think I know someone else in Black Ops...Well, I need to get up to the detention center, see you around Valen," Erol raised his hand in a quick two fingered salute before turning and starting to walk away.

"Cool. See ya Erol!" Valen waved at the man's retreating back. In a quieter voice he added, "Good luck with that one. Kaen doesn't grant favors to anyone."

Erol glanced back over his shoulder, "I could have told you that, but what says I don't have something she wants?"

Valen shrugged and turned away. "Just sayin'. Have fun dealing with her..." He stopped suddenly. "Hey, wait. Isn't Kaen out of jail? She's was supposed to be released five years ago! What's she still doing in here?"

"It's a 'restricted' freedom, good thing too; otherwise she'd be doing this," Erol gestured to his bruised jaw, "to the general public."

Valen chuckled, "Don't worry about the bruise. It goes away eventually. Though I do have to admit, that looks pretty nasty. Are you going to doctor it up? Cayden didn't and he still has a discoloration on his chin."

"Hell no, it's just a bruise," Erol made a nonchalant hand motion, "Now, I really need to get going, or else I'll have one to match it tomorrow," and with that Erol shot one last smirk at Valen before turning back around to head up to the detention center.

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Erol wandered calmly into the detention center, where, he could see, Kaen was very annoyed already.

"You're late."

He rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the newsflash. I'm amazed; you're capable of telling time."

"Don't make me give you a bruise to match," she snarled staring him straight in the eyes.

Erol raised an eyebrow. That was new. "Somehow, I doubt that threat." She'd never looked him in the eyes before; he got the feeling she was trying to avoid looking at the rest of his face. Namely, his bruise.

"Oh, and what makes you think that?"

Erol tapped his finger against the mark she was so obviously trying not to look at, "Call it a hunch."

Kaen's eyes flickered momentarily towards the wound. Almost instantly she dropped her gaze to the floor. "What do you want?"

"Have a job for you."

"WHAT?!"

"I said I have a job for you, what are you deaf?"

With one smooth movement, she pulled out one of her knives and placed the point delicately on Erol's bruise. "Who says I'll do anything for you?"

He smirked, grimaced actually, but he covered it well enough, "Fine, if you're not interested, I'm sure I can find someone who's more available to do the job. I just thought you might want to get out for a bit." He managed a genuine smirk, "They say staying in prison makes people crazy, though, it might be too late for you."

"Do you want me to cut off this bruise for you? Cause I'd do it with pleasure."

Erol was about to respond when a loud screech came from one of the cells, "LEAVE HIM ALONE! IT'S BAD ENOUGH YOU DO IT TO ME! YOU SAID HE'D BE SAFE IF I CONFESSED!"

Erol cast a wary look down towards the cell, the voice had sounded slightly familiar, "Um, who's that?"

"Er…" she glanced nervously in the scream's general direction, "Just one of those crazy prisoners you were talking about. What was the job you wanted?"

Erol blinked, surprised by her sudden compliance, "You know stuff about all of the gangs in Haven, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not allowed to talk about it, one of the conditions of my freedom, among," she looked towards the cell again, "others."

"I'm giving you permission to temporarily skip your conditions." He paused and decided just to cut to the chase, "I need you to find a certain gang member for me."

"Okay, and you'll do what in return?"

"I won't question you about that prisoner who is so obviously a major factor of your freedom."

She scowled, "Not good enough. I want more than just a day's freedom and no questions."

Erol sighed, "Can we negotiate this later?" he asked.

"I suppose, but don't think this topic is closed," she removed the blade from his face. "So, who's the guy?"

"I don't have many details, but I figure you can find him. Supposedly he runs with a gang called the Weapons, or something like that. The punk has my tattoos, shouldn't be hard for you to find."

"Probably not. So, why am I going after him?"

Erol rolled his eyes, "He's defacing the commander of the Krimzon Guard, if he's allowed to continue, people will view the Guard as weak. When that happens, they lose faith in the city, and join the resistance. That leads to more attacks, assaults, casualties, and overall general complications for everyone. He needs to be disposed of."

"So pretty much, I'm defending your own pride and vanity."

Erol gave her a flat stare, "I'm not going to deny, I've got my own interest in this, but there are bigger issues at stake."

"Like what? Praxis' position in the city? Your position as Commander? Do you honestly think I care?" she shrugged and sighed, "I'll do it, but you owe me big time Erol." And on that note, the woman left the area without another word.

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Kaen couldn't put her finger on it. Why hadn't she just killed the man then and there? Why hadn't she just used the blade she'd already placed on his jaw and slit his throat? What had kept her from simply ending Erol's life and escaping? Why had she agreed to do a favor for him?

"What was I thinking, agreeing to that madness?" she grumbled as she walked down one of the palace's back hallways. This area was Black Ops territory, making it the only passage into its more important offices. Usually at this hour the place would be swarming with agents, but at the moment the halls were empty except for an occasional passer-by. Today wasn't really a day for more confrontation, a fact that Cayden had taken into consideration when Kaen had told him that she was coming for a visit. Now only one or two people could be found in the bright corridors.

"Morning Miss," one Ops agent said politely as he passed, his arms full of papers. "Where're you off to today?"

"Cayden," she responded automatically. "Top secret." Better not to go into any sort of detail.

The man nodded, accepting her words as truth. Both of them knew that no one questioned her methods of operation. "Very well. He's in his office, if you're wondering. Good bye Miss Kaen. Have a nice day." He continued to walk on.

Kaen rolled her eyes, sneer plastered on her face. People could be extremely fake sometimes. That man wouldn't have cared one bit if he'd heard that her day was horrible. The comment had simply been a social response, nothing more.

She heard a nearby door creak open. "Kaen? Are you alright?" She whirled around to face the voice. It was Cayden, standing in the doorway to his office, obviously concerned.

"No," she replied bluntly. "I'm in a partially homicidal mood."

He chuckled, opening the door wider to admit her, "Encounter with the commander got you all riled up?"

"Don't even start," she sighed, walking through the entryway and into the new Black Ops head's office. "I've come on business, not to discuss my personal problems."

"No? It's been a pretty hot topic for all of us underdogs. Bets are being placed," Cayden laughed, closing the door and making his way for his chair behind the monstrous desk. Kaen waited to speak until after the man had got himself settled.

"What sorts of bets?" she said through slightly gritted teeth. She was wasting time.

"Oh, this and that. Who's going to kill the other first, why you are going to kill each other, when you're going to kill each other. Ya know. Stuff like that."

"Mmm. Okay. So."

"So…?"

Kaen leaned back. "I need a little help tracking down someone."

"Civilian or member of the establishment?"

"Civilian. Gang member in the Weaps."

"Really?" Cayden whipped around in his chair to face a large filing cabinet. For some reason unknown to all but him, the Black Ops head preferred his files as hard copies. "What's the guy's name?"

She shrugged, "Don't know. Erol didn't give me much to work with."

Cayden spun around again. "This is for the commander? You're doing him, him of all people, a favor?" His face clearly betrayed his shock. "But…But…"

"He heard Jance," Kaen snarled. "I don't want him poking around. So, I get rid of this guy for him and poof! This whole problem disappears."

The monstrous man rolled his eyes and turned to the files once more. "I told you that you should've killed him when the Baron told you to. Now that little snot-nosed traitor is causing us all the more trouble."

"It was my decision not to kill the man, so he's my responsibility. I need him to keep sane."

"Torturing people makes you sane?"

Kaen sighed. The pair of them had gone over this many times. "Look, Cayden. I've told you time and time again that a little bit of madness, just a bit mind you, keeps my mind safe and secure from It." 'It' was her petname for the beloved monster she harbored inside

"But I thought you had meds for that."

"I do. They just don't work like they should sometimes. So, I hurt people. Now can we please go back to the original topic?" She was tired to trying to explain her actions towards Jance. There were better, less painful things to do.

"Oh, right. Um…Weaps…members…Ah!" Cayden pulled out some file folders and swiveled around to face his desk. He then proceeded to flip every individual one open. "Rapier, Scythe, Cutlass, Rifle, Musket, Blade. The six top Weapons in the city."

Kaen rifled through the folders for a moment before she came across the correct file. There he was, staring blankly up at her. Blade. The tell-tale tattoos could only been seen the most recent picture, an angry red instead of blue.

"Have we come across him before?" she asked, picking the picture up to study it. "His face looks very familiar and yet…" Kaen stared at the youthful face.

Cayden shook his head. "Nope. Blade's the kind of kid to fly under the radar. He's only nineteen ya know. But vicious. Very, very vicious."

"Where would I find him?"

"Er…back alleys in the slums? The Weaps don't really seem to stick to one specific area."

"Alright," she said slowly, not tearing her eyes away from Blade's face. "I'll find him somehow. Thanks for your help Cayden. Much appreciated." Kaen stood, photograph still in hand, and began to make her way to the door.

"Wait!" the man suddenly called out, just as her fingertips brushed the door's handle. "Are you going to kill the boy?"

Kaen glanced over her shoulder at him, feeling a strange darkness growing inside of her. "Yes," she said matter-of-factly and, with a flick of her head, left.

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Cayden sighed and shook his head as his boss exited his office. Nothing good would come of this. The commander had just given the girl her death sentence. Not even with the pills would Kaen be able to control her little monster, not if blood was spilled from a dead body. He couldn't allow that to happen.

"If anything happens to her, I'll gut that incompetent man who calls himself the commander," the big man muttered to the goldfish on his desk. "She's the best thing that ever happened in this place and I'm not about to allow her being locked away. If It tastes bloodlust…Well, we're going to have a problem." Cayden stood abruptly and headed for the door. "I've got to stop this madness at the source." Within a second, he was out the door and down the hall, heading for the detention center and, more specifically, Jance's cell.

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Back in the office, the goldfish swam around in circles a few times before it bulleted straight into the side of the bowl, killing itself.

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Kaen's feet pounded against the pavement. She'd never been outside before in her entire life and had no sense of where she was headed. Oh well. How hard would it be finding the slums, even with such a dark…um…sky? Yes, it was called the sky. It was frighteningly infinite and Kaen disliked it very much.

Turning a corner, the woman ran in a random direction. She'd eventually figure out her way there, hopefully before night fell. Something suggested it would be even more difficult to find her way around this maze of streets in the pitch black. Even now it was confusing and rather unpleasant.

"I'm never, ever going to leave my cell after this," she muttered to herself grimly, staring at the offensive sky. "Honestly."

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Blade watched the woman turn a corner; he could tell she had no clue where she was going. She acted like she'd never been outside in her life, it was…interesting. He pulled out his communication device, and thumbed the switch.

There was the crackle of static as the other end was answered, "What is it Blade?" Scythe snarled irritably.

"Cutlass, now." Blade demanded, easing out of the alleyway. He moved slowly, attempting to keep the woman within his sight while keeping his distance.

There was the sound of the receiving communicator being passed off to someone else, "Go ahead number two."

Blade glanced around before replying, "I've found an interesting target, permission to pursue?"

"Do what you want. Don't get caught."

Blade kept his gaze fixed on his target, "I know." He clicked off the device and pocketed it again. He walked forward casually to lessen the distance between himself and the woman. She looked lost. He could tell she was looking for something, it was an inefficient and seemingly random search pattern, but it was obvious. "What could you possibly hope to find here?" he hissed to himself, slipping into the shadows to better follow her. It was child's play for him; Blade was in his element, well, one of them anyway. She seemed oblivious to being tracked, all the easier for him. He smirked. She was in his territory.

She jerked suddenly, and made what appeared to be a movement to turn around. Blade reacted instantly, pressing himself up against the wall of the alley, holding perfectly still until the threat of being seen had passed. Perhaps she wasn't as unaware as he'd first thought. He'd have to be more careful. He took a deep breath to reassure himself. "Just like doing another job." he murmured quietly, "Relax."

Blade allowed the distance to grow slightly between them before letting himself to continue on tracking. Whether she'd actually thought someone was following her or not, he wasn't going to take any risks. He pulled out his communication device again and turned it back on. He clicked it three times in quick succession, signaling to Cutlass and Scythe 'Possible compromise.'

The clouds overhead were getting darker and patches of light were getting scarce, all the better for him, worse for her. The communicator clicked twice, pausing in between clicks, the signal 'Get out of there.'

Blade's thumb pressed quickly down on the button, barely pushing it the whole way before releasing it. It caused a sharp staccato snap, 'Negative.' He wasn't about to give up one of the most interesting chases he'd had just because there was the slight chance he'd been seen. Besides, if she'd actually seen him, she would have acted by now, wouldn't she? He gave his head a quick shake; he couldn't afford to start second guessing himself now.

He skulked up behind her, wanting to get a closer look. Five feet away from her he stopped. His eyes ran quickly up and down her figure. He didn't miss the two knives sheathed on her thighs. He allowed the distance to grow again; there was no reason for him to be that close, it was just asking for trouble. She was armed. That changed things. At twenty feet he slipped away from the alley wall, moving with much more caution and care than he'd been employing moments before.

Kaen was being followed. She knew it, could feel the signs of the tracker. Possibly just small gang activity, but she wasn't about to take any chances. Already she'd tried to throw him off her tail by simply turning, hoping that would scare him off. Barring that, the only other method to create fear in her victim would be to pull out the knives, which was something that she was just particularly opposed to, for moral reasons. No point in scaring a man without good reason. For all she knew, Cayden had sent a watcher after her and was just being his over protective self.

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Blade kept letting the distance grow, something felt very wrong about this situation. It was too easy. That didn't stop him. His youthful curiosity insisted that he find out what she was up to. He kept half of his attention on where she was going, and half on watching her for any signs that she was about to pull one of the knives on him. He glanced up as a raindrop hit him. Typical Haven weather. They sky was grey, threatening a proper shower. Blade smirked. Instinct told him it would be funny to watch the woman in the rain.

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Kaen felt something hit her head. It was hard and cold and left the most unpleasant damp spot on her skin. It didn't feel dangerous, but could she really be sure? Actually, the coldness reminded her very much of water, which couldn't possibly be right. Water didn't fall from the sky...did it? No, no it couldn't. Turning her face upwards, hoping to find the cause of the wetness, a large drop of rain fell and landed on her nose.

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Blade stifled a laugh. Instinct had served him well. Her confusion was highly amusing. He shivered as icy drops slid down his spine. He focused on her again. It was starting to rain harder and faster. He considered leaving, just going back to where everyone else was. He opted to stay, but he didn't move any closer to her. It would be better to watch from a distance now.

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It was water falling from the sky, each drop icy cold. More and more was falling, faster with each passing second. Kaen swore internally, shaking her head to rid her hair of the raindrops. And then she heard it. A near silent shuffling of feet, behind her and a bit to the left. She stiffened and, with no hesitation, whirled around to finally face the man who'd been following her for the past hour.

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Blade froze, eyes widening in surprise. He pressed up close to the side of the alley. Letting himself be enshrouded in shadow. He knew that the dark clothing he wore would make it difficult for her to spot him.

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Nothing. There was nothing there. "What the hell," she murmured, eyes searching the surrounding area for a sign. "Where could he have gone...Oh!" Kaen remembered an alleyway she'd passed only a moment before. He could have gone in there, if he was spineless enough to run. Anger coursed through her veins suddenly. What sort of guy runs away at the first sign of danger after spending a good chunk of time tracking someone? Shaking her head of more raindrops, Kaen ran to the mouth of the alley and scanned the area for movement. Still nothing. An idea slowly dawned on her. 'Let's see if this works,' she thought grimly before screaming out loud, "BLADE!" Hey! It was worth a shot.

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His breath hissed between his teeth as he fought the urge to respond. How did she know it had been him? He closed his eyes wanting to disappear. She was between him and his closest exit, that wasn't supposed to happen. He felt trapped. If he moved too much she'd hear him again.

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Silence reigned in the alley, but Kaen wasn't convinced. Something in her gut said that the tracker was the boy she was tracking. It was possible, wasn't it? "Blade!" she called again. "I know your here somewhere. Come out now and I'll make your death quicker!" No need to be subtle, really. Best if the kid knew what his options were straight out. She continued her way along the path, whipping out her two knives. "Come on boy. Show yourself."

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His gaze fell upon the knives. She'd been looking for him. He fought the urge to obey, she didn't know where he was, that much was obvious. He inched away from her. Loose gravel caught under his foot and he slipped. He landed in a crouching stance, one hand dropping to his right gun. She wasn't going to get him, that much he knew. That was the really handy thing about guns; they had a much greater range than a knife.

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Kaen whirled around at the noise, tensed and ready to fight. He was nearer to the back of the dead-end back street. Slowly, very slowly, she drew back one of her arms knife pointing backwards. The weapon wasn't supposed to kill him, but to scare him into coming out. She released her taunt arm and the knife went flying through the area, burying itself deep within the far wall.

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Blade stood, leveling the gun at her. It wouldn't matter if she saw him or not now. Still half masked by the shadows, rain running down his face he took careful aim. Still, he had to know what she'd been doing. "What do you want?" he demanded.

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She sighed, she'd found him at last. "Well, to talk to you first and then to eventually kill you. Not that I really feel like doing either at the moment as today has been an overly troubling day. So, why don't we just get this over with? Come into the light so I can make sure I'm talking to the right guy. I can't kill you unless I have good reason to. Not that Erol's vanity is a good reason, but whatever."

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Erol's vanity? That's why she'd wanted him? She was going to kill him because of the tattoos. If that was the only reason, then there really was no sense in letting her see him. "The commander put you up to this?" His gun hand shook, he was letting himself get nervous, or perhaps it was the rain. It had escalated quickly into a steady downpour that showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Blade blinked the water out of his eyes. He began to shake more violently and knew that it wasn't the rain. "So you're saying that you can't kill me if you're not sure I'm the one you want?" He took a step back before remembering that the alley was in fact, a dead end. He wasn't going anywhere, not until she moved. Trapped. She had him cornered. How? How had he managed to let this happen?

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Kaen was intrigued. Was he actually going to try to escape a dead end alley? She tried to cover a smile, images running through her head. "No," she said reasonably, taking a step towards the teen, "I'm going to kill you if you're Blade or not, which I know you are. Come on kid, it's pretty obvious. There's a lot at stake here." It could do the trick...

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His composure was failing him, "Like what? I think I'm the only one who's got a stake in this." His voice wavered and the gun slipped from his fingers.

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"I do too!" Kaen nodded, grinning behind her hand. "My life's on the line here...as well as my sanity. So, if you'll be a nice boy, I'll just get this over with." She twitched, a timer ticking in her head, counting down the seconds until she lunged. 'Three, two, one,' she thought. 'Now!'

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He didn't see it coming, he couldn't move out of the way. Blade felt his neck and back crack as he met with the ground. All focus was lost as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.

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Kaen stared at her knife and then at the kid. It was time. And yet...he was just a boy, younger than herself by several years. Could she really do that to an innocent person? What had he done wrong? Kaen stared at the knife again. It was one thing to torture Jance, who had turned traitor on them all, but some punk? "This is wrong," she muttered irritably. "This is very wrong." What a time for her sane conscience to kick in!

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"Wha...what?" he asked, now very confused. Just moments ago she'd been hell-bent on killing him. Not that he wasn't thankful for the change. His eyes didn't leave the knife in her hand.

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Kaen didn't know what to do. If she killed him, she'd feel terribly guilty and, chances were, her nightmares would start up again. And if she didn't kill him, she'd just doomed herself to life in prison. So her mind came to a comfortable solution: just get rid of the tattoos. "Alright Blade," she snapped, raising her knife. "I've come to a compromise. I won't kill you, but I do have to remove the tattoos...this may sting a little." And with a flick of her wrist, the blade slid under his skin and she began to take off the offensive ink.

He screamed, louder than Jance ever had.

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Blade could feel himself hyperventilating, but could do nothing about it. His mind was overloaded with panic. Pure terror. Blood ran down his face, mixing and covering the tattoos. He stared up at her, eyes full of shock and utter panic.

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She continued her task, hoping it would come off cleanly. One eye was nearly done. "Just a bit more..." she muttered keeping the wound as clean as possible. "Just a bit mor..." her voice trailed off suddenly. She had heard footsteps at the mouth of the alley way. People. Someone to rain on her already rainy parade. "Shit."

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Blade lay there, he heard the footsteps too. Relief flooded him as he felt the knife cease its movement beneath his skin. He'd thought nothing could be more painful than getting that area of his face inked. Turned out, there was. He blinked the blood out of his eye; hardly daring to breathe for fear that she'd resume the removal of his tattoos.

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Kaen leapt up, scanning the area. Well, whoever was over there had just ruined her otherwise miserable day. Not bothering to pick up the knife she had thrown, the woman headed towards the main street. Looking back over her shoulder, Kaen called, "I'll be back tomorrow Blade. I'm not done quite yet!" And with the flick of her head, she was gone, hoping that she was going in the general direction of home.

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Blade watched her go. He clapped a hand over the partially removed tattoo and sat up slowly. He glanced around and spied his dropped gun. He reached out with his free hand and picked it up. He slid it back into his holster and slowly pushed himself to his feet, this was going to take some explaining to Cutlass.