A/N:: Haha... for some reason I listened to Simon Curtis - Hypnotized the entire four hours it took me to write this. What? Don't look at me like that I get distracted and change things around in chapters a lot. Besides, I'm doing research by playing the game as I go to remind myself of some of the key RoF features. :D Just research, I swear.

Zephyr, Vashyron and other elements relating to Resonance of Fate the video game belong to Square Enix and aligned third parties.


Something was off, the hallway swayed. Vashyron staggered. He took a deep breath and gently patted his coat where he could feel blood seeping through the make-shift bandaging. Just a little longer he told himself. You haven't failed me before, don't start now. We've been in worse conditions. Somehow, that didn't seem to comfort him. He took a deep breath, steadying himself enough to peek around a corner into the only room open to the hall.

A bullet whizzed by his face, lodging itself in the wall across from him.
"What a heartwarming welcome." He ducked into the room, barely avoiding another shot aimed at his head. The blonde charged the first person he saw, an older man he guessed by the grey strands in his hair. He got off his own shot, grabbing the man and swinging behind him in time to avoid the gunfire that came down on them from the other two gunmen in the room. A bullet in his leg, one in his shoulder, and three in his chest Vashyron's first victim went slack. He heaved the body toward the two other men, thanked the building's designer for making the rooms so small, and leapt forward. In one second a knife was in his left hand, in the second it was burying itself into the thigh of the man on the left.

The other dove, a bullet grazing his arm and leaving a nasty gash. The second bullet connected with his wrist, knocking the gun from his hand in a spray of blood. Vashyron turned and stepped to the side, avoiding a sloppily thrown punch and grabbing the man's arm. His second hand resting on the man's back, the hunter pulled the man down and rammed his knee into his gut. In a blind fury the man lashed out with his free arm, only to have Vashyron step back, grab this new appendage and snap it. The man screamed and tried to run. Vashyron held fast to his arm, using it to hold him in place as he grabbed the knife, twisting and withdrawing it from its flesh sheath.

The weapon turned in his palm, finding and pursuing its new target. The final opponent threw up his arms. An attack aimed at his head instead pierced his forearm. Vashyron blinked, he had to admit the guy had fast reflexes. The man ripped the blade from his arm with his good hand, laughing hysterically as he wound up to kill the man with his own throwing weapon. He fell dead, a bullet to his forehead.
"Don't fight guns with knives idiot."

A moan on his right. In the next room lay a small body, his blonde hair easily recognizable in the moonlight filtering in through a window. Vashyron smiled, he'd found his target at last. Time to finish this little errand of his. He walked toward Zephyr, a hand pressed hard against his wound. It was bleeding a lot for such a little scratch, and it had caused more complications for him today than he would have liked. His vision wavered a little. Vashyron laughed under his breath, struggling to steady his aim while breathing so hard. He couldn't... seem to get a steady breath.

The boy's body was bruised and cut, so they hadn't been working together after all huh? At least they'd left him alive long enough for Vashyron to kill him himself. He twitched.
"There he is!"
The hunter jumped backward, one of the two bullets fired tearing a hole in his pants.
"Hey! These were custom made!" He straightened, ignoring the fire licking at his ribs.
"Not even you will need them where you're going. No one in hell cares if your jeans are ripped right?"
Vashyron sighed, facing the bald man straight on, a cocky smirk on his lips.
"Look West, I know we have quite a bit of catching up to do, but I'm a little busy at the moment, you know?" He motioned toward the unconscious boy with the colt. "You know better than anyone I don't like-"

"You've been blacklisted."
Vashyron stopped, trading hardened glares with West. He had been exchanging blows with West and his 'friends' for a long time, the last few years in-particular they'd had a few... disagreements sure, but nothing that would warrant blacklisting.
"By who?"
West and his two bodyguards moving closer, their guns trained on Vashyron.
"It was more of a... cooperative agreement. But if you're asking who brought it to light, then maybe you should ask someone from the north." He paused, stopping a few meters away. "Well too late now right? Nothing I can do about a blacklisting." The man smiled, patting the shoulders of the two standing in front of him.
"No use in drawing this out any longer boys."

He really should learn to just let it go sometimes, in the end it was his determined pursuit of the little runt that had promised his soul to the reaper. Even if the boy was his responsibility, even if he had tried to shoot him, would it have killed him to give himself some time to recover a bit before going after him? No. It wouldn't have, see that's the point. He sighed. Well, at least he wasn't about to go down alone, that would ruin his reputation.

Vashyron raised his gun, the men reacted fast, but Vashyron was faster. He knocked one of the men's guns away as it fired, hooking his leg around the enemy's and shoving him back hard. The man tripped, falling backward with a yelp and a knife in his heart. More gunfire. Vashyron slipped around the second through the gap, moving as fast as his legs allowed him. He pulled the gun up, but West punched him hard. Vashyron's vision spun from the blow, but he brought the butt of the pistol down against the larger man's chest. West wheezed, reaching out and knocking the colt from the hunter's hand. West kicked the weapon hard, far beyond Vashyron's reach.

They grappled. West pushed hard against Vashyron, whose adrenaline was rapidly fading. He couldn't feel his arms anymore, his legs threatening to buckle against the weight of his opponent.
"What are you doing!? Shoot him!" West roared.
"B-but sir!"
Vashyron had every confidence that the man wouldn't shoot, he wouldn't risk hitting his boss. Not that it mattered either way, this was it. He was at his limit.

The world was a hazy mix of jumbled words and throbbing pain. Everything hurt. Nothing was broken or permanently damaged, Zephyr was sure of that, but it hurt just the same. Something cold touched his hand, soothing the heat for a moment. His eyes cracked open, blinded by the light coming from the other room. His hands and feet were no longer bound, they obviously didn't see the point in keep an unconscious kid tied up now did they? He tried opening his eyes again, blinking several times over a minute or two before finally being able to focus on the object the had disturbed him.

He blinked again. Was he seeing things? He gently rose to a sitting position, stretching out the soreness of sleeping on the floor. He flinched in pain, pulling a bruised muscle into an uncomfortable position, but it felt good to be able to stretch nonetheless. He plucked the item from the floor, holding the gun up to the light to examine it. It felt oddly familiar to him. Ah, this was the same one he had held before when he had... well, yeah. Why was it here?

A shout from just outside the room startled him. Clutching the weapon to his chest Zephyr stood and made his way to the door. One of the bald guy's thugs had his back turned to him, and beyond two men wrestled for control. The smaller one was obviously losing, a bullet hole in his left shoulder. He gripped the gun tighter. Those are the bastards that tried to kill me. Time to return the favor.

Two loud bangs were followed by shocked silence. Seconds seemed to slow as all eyes turned toward him. The dark haired thug began screaming, clawing at his chest where the bullets sat beneath the skin. He gasped for air, his shredded lungs trying desperately to expand. A flash of steel from across the room brought forth a shower of blood, the snake wrapped around the bald guy's neck unraveling to reveal severed veins and arteries. The bald man gave one last look of terror, opened his mouth, and collapsed at the smaller man's feet in a heap of flesh.

No one moved for a while, Zephyr still a little confused about the whole thing. Vashyron turned.
"You." he snarled. Life suddenly sprung forth in Zephyr's hands, he pulled the trigger. He was met with a hollow click. He'd been here before, he knew what was coming next. This time he would really-! His eyes went wide, he abandoned the gun on the wet floor alongside the bodies of six men, turned and fled. A window! Which, conviniently led out onto a fire escape. He scowled at the metal, recalling the last time he used a fire escape to get away from his pursuer.
"Get back here Zephyr!"
Out onto the fire escape he went.

It took him a horrifying moment to realize they were eighteen stories up, and that the last fifteen floors of the fire escape were huddled in a rusted heap at the foot of the building.
"Bastard!"
Zephyr went up, if he could reach a window on another floor he could loose Vashyron inside and slip out onto the street again. The first window he tried was locked. The next floor then! But the nineteenth floor fire escape window was locked too. Vashyron had dragged himself out onto the fire escape and was closing the distance fast. How could he even be moving with those kinds of wounds!? Zephyr tugged hard on the twentieth floor window.
"Really!?" It too was locked. Vashyron was one level below him, climbing faster now, almost desperately.

Zephyr scrambled up the ladder, its old, rusted rungs scraping against his palms. The older blonde reached the top platform just as Zephyr pulled his legs over the edge of the roof.
"Stop running!"
Yeah right. Zephyr ran faster, needing to reach the door and get inside before Vashyron could reach him. He sprinted, so close to freedom. He tripped, stumbling but managing to keep upright. Only a little farther! He didn't dare look over his shoulder, knowing full well Vashyron was right behind him.

"Yes!" He cried out in relief as he reached the door, risking a glance only to find Vashyron was only just now pulling himself up over the lip of the rooftop. He got away! Zephyr tugged the door open. It was locked.
"No way!" He tried again, and again, and then twice more after that. He smashed his fist against the door in anger. "Are you kidding me!"
"Doors don't joke around runt." Zephyr spun, Vashyron had caught up. His hair wild and his brown eyes burning with anger the hunter breathed hard, trying to catch his breath. The shaking gun was gripped in his otherwise limp arm, a new .

He was wounded, maybe if he could get to him before he aimed the gun! Zephyr sprinted forward. He had barely traveled four of the eight meters between them when he came to an abrupt halt, the gun aimed directly at his head.
"Damnit!" Zephyr yelled in anger. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"There are a lot of things that weren't supposed to to happen today." Vashyron took a calming breath, forcing himself to keep his aim steady. "This on the other hand," he cocked the gun, "was very much supposed to happen."

In that moment Zephyr was sure everyone in Basel could heart his heart hammering in his chest. His fists drawn up in some kind of half-hearted defiance he searched for something, anything that could help him get out of this! Vashyron left no openings, no shielding of any kind was nearby, and no weapon was there for Zephyr to use. Hell, he'd kill for a shard of usable glass right at the moment. He'd already made up his mind, he didn't want to die! He'd decided to live, even if he didn't deserve to, he wanted to! He'd been given a second chance, and after everything that had happened- I screwed it up. I hesitated when I should have pulled the trigger.

Zephyr could hear shouts coming from behind the door. Angry grunts probably come to take out their anger on the big bad boss killers.
"Looks like neither of us are getting out of here alive." The younger found something strangely hilarious about the situation. He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. His killer gave him one final, curious look, then the door burst open. Vashyron pulled the trigger.


A/N:: Somehow I've just come up with new content for Vashyron's past story, the ES could get pretty interesting, and the more I type about these guys the more and more I get muse for it tee hee (It's very useful when muse from one story fuels another). Anyway, I wonder what will happen in the next chapter! Vashyron still hasn't confronted Zephyr yet though... heh... heheh...

P.S. It occurred to me that Zephyr managed to land just fine falling from chandelier, but is somehow freaked out by fifteen stories?