A/N: Thankies to those who have reviewed. Now I am in a REALLY good writing mood so I will not waste it. ON WITH THE STUFF!

Disclaimer: If I were to own Soul Calibur do you think that I would be sitting here?

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Chapter 2 A 'Burning' Hatred

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I had been walking through this foresaken forest for HOURS! I wanted to rest so badly, but I knew I could not stop, especially since my tent had just underwent a brutal mauling by some forest animals. I disposed of them and was for to leave my tent- no wait, shreds of cloth- behind. Due to my fatiuge, I began stumbling and leaning on trees for support. My luck went down even farthur when I came across a guy with spiky red hair and a shiny, sharp sword. I wielded my Crescent Blades and prepared for battle.

But then everything was replaced by darkness.

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Damn forest. . . Damn animals. . . Damn Mina. . . Damn Hwang. . . Damn Terror. . . Damn Soul Edge. . .

I cursed my way through the filth and monster infested forest. I needed to get to the Shizuka na Kawa- the Quiet River by tomorrow if I wanted to get a boat in time.

Turning a clearing, I came across a girl wearing a blue pink and white hat and weilding elbow blades. I blinked as she saw me a proceeded to get a firmer grip on her weapons as if for battle.

And then she passed out.

I walked over to her and felt her pulse. I let out a long sigh of relief. She was still alive, she had just fainted. I picked her up piggyback-style and began my search for shelter.

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Taki looked at Maxi who looked back at her. She wore only her spandex, having stripped her armour after hunting. "So Maxi, how have you been?"

"Well. . . my king died. . . and I've missed you." He leaned over to kiss her but she leaned back.

":I see you are in need Maxi,:" she thought, ":so it will be fun to tease you for a bit.:" Taki then walked around her small dining table toward him and sat on his lap. "Oh, your king died?" she asked, playing with his hair. "What ever could have killed him?"

Maxi licked his lips. "Food poisoning. I have a vial of the poison. They say it burns the eater from the inside while they are alive. Someone had snuck it in him during the night.

"Really?" Taki ran her thumb along his earlobe. "And who did it?"

"I-I don't know."

Taki stood and let her fingers linger upon Maxi's bare chest. She put one finger on her lip. "Ah, an unsolved mystery. So elusive, so invigorating, so. . . seductive."

Maxi lost himself. He grabbed her and steered her to the wall, attacking her with his tounge. He let his hands roam her body and he ran them along her hips.

Taki smiled to herself and pushed off the wall and closer to him. She caressed his cheek with gentle fingers as he moved her back to the wall and pressed closer to her. She was on the verge of giving into the temptation to bring him to bed when there was a knock on the door. And then a male voice calling.

Taki pushed Maxi away and answered the knock.

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Yunsung stumbled upon a clearing which was disturbed by a mid-sized cabin. With the strange girl on his back, he then walked up to the door and knocked. After waiting for a few moments, he knocked again. "Hello-o-o-o-o-o?"

The door swung open and what he saw made him pale.

"T-t-taki?!"

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There were lights.

They did not blind me, and they were dim enough to count.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...

There were 12 lights.

They were many different colours, but two of them seemed the brightest. An aqua coloured one and a red coloured one.

I walked toward the two lights, and as the red grew bright almost immediately, the aqua one only brightened slowly, and it was still dim. Then the aqua suddenly shined with all its might, making it look as though it would explode. The red began to dim, more and more, until it almost retreated into darkness. The aqua too, began to darken. The red suddenly burst into animation again, and the aqua followed. And then all the lights burst into a huge, blinding white. But something was wrong.

One of the lights went out.

And then I started falling.

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"T-t-taki?!" I exclaimed. I looked in wide-eyed bewilderment as I studied the ninja. She was wearing only a black spandex and her crimson lipstick was smudged. She looked at me in a type of glee but her smile quickly faded when she saw the girl on my back. With a muttered "Come in please," she stepped aside and I walked in to find another shock. A man with no shirt and long blond hair was glaring at me. I stuck my tounge at him and then proceeded to Taki's guest room. There I laid the girl on the bed and after closing the door, I took a seat near the bed as well. I studied the girl and I brushed a stray hair off of her face. As soon as my fingers brushed against her cheek, she began to stir. I then gasped and slid my chair all the way to the other side of the room and pretended to be asleep.

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I glared at the closed door of the guest room. Damn that kid! I need to get rid of him so Taki will focus on me once again! But how. . . I then almost yelled "EUREKA!" but decided against it. Fiddling around in my pockets, I found the small vial I was looking for. It only contained a few drops of the poison, but it would do. I had no need to kill the girl he brang in, in fact, she could be of much use to me. I grinned and saw that Taki had left three steaming bowls of soup on the table unattened when she went to the washroom. I poured all of my poison in one bowl and then placed it on the seat beside me. I then neatly folded a napkin in front of the seat across me and as Taki came out, I pulled out her chair and after she sat, I pushed her chair in. I then went to call my victim- er, no, Taki's guest.

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I felt myself in a soft, soft place. A field maybe? Or. . . a bed? I opened my eyes and sat up, taking in my surroundings. A wall with a window, a wall covered entirely by books, a dresser, and a man pretending to sleep in a chair beside the door. I smriked.

"Excuse me but I know you are awake," I said. The man slowly raised his head and opened his eyes.

"Wha-?"

"I am sorry but that is not going to work." I gave him a small smile and extended my hand. "My name is Talim, what is yours?"

He hesitated before shaking my hand and repling. "I'm Yunsung. And now I need an answer from you- why were you wandering these woods while you are alone and -no offense- weak?"

I frowned. "I highly doubt that I am alone and weak. The infernal beasts lurking in there ravged my supplies. . . and. . . " I paused, deep in thought. ". . . have you heard of the. . . Soul Edge?"

"Have I heard of the So- of course I have heard of the Soul Edge! Anybody who wants to end the Terror knows about the Soul Edge!" I grinned broadly and stood up tall. "I plan to aquire the mighty blade and use it as my own!"

"U-use it as your-"

I was interrupted by a yell and a knock on the door.

"Hello-o-o-o! Dinner is r-e-e-e-a-a-a-ady if you care to e-a-a-a-a-a-t!" called a voice. It stretched out some words to put emphasis on them. We then heard footsteps retreat and then Yunsung got up. "Well, c'mon let us eat! You must be starved by now!" he gave me a smile and then walked out of the room. At the door, he waited for me. I rose and accompanied him to the table and the situation that would be the cause of many events. . . and only a few of them would be good. . .

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I smiled brightly when I saw Yunsung coming into the dining room but then immediately frowned when I saw the girl was with him. "I-I thought she was still sleeping. . . " I said in a dazed tone. The girl looked at me shocked and then smiled softly.

"Oh, no, it is alright. I can see if I have something to eat now, you go ahead with your dinner."

I looked at her nice demeanor, dumbfounded. I then shook my head. If I wanted Yun, I was just going to have to be nice and win him over again! I shook my head and was about to reply when Yunsung began to speak.

"No problem Talim. You can share mine." He then walked into my kitchen and retrieved a wooden bowl, for I only had three china ones anyway. He poured half his soup into it.

Then the wooden bowl began to smoke and was suddenly aflame. He dropped the bowl and it lit the carpet and began trailing around my cabin. "Oh sh*t!" I shrieked. "My frickin cabin! What the h*ll was in that frickin soup?!"

"I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION!" roared Yunsung. The girl, Talim, immediately ran to the kitchen and began splashing water from my water barrel. Maxi just sat there, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"Crap. . .Sh*t. . . F*ck. . . Dammit . . . " he muttered.

We ran out of my cabin.

My cabin burned down to the ground.

The ground was littered with ashes and burnt pieces of furniture or singed pages of books.

Yunsung glared at me. "Taki. . . if you hated me so much to put flaming poison in my soup. . . well. . . I just thought you were better than that."

"What the f*ck do you mean, you think I put poison in YOUR soup?!"

"Well, who else would have done it? TALIM?"

"Maybe she did! I mean, Maxi couldn't have and you WOULDN'T have, so SHE is the last suspect!"

"I WAS WITH HER THE ENTIRE TIME YOU DUMB F*CK!" he roared. Then he gave me a menacing glare. "It was ov-frickin-er 3 damn years ago Taki. Get. over. it." He then gave me the finger and stormed off, pulling that girl with him.

"FINE!" I yelled after him. "YOU JUST GO WITH YOUR LITTLE WENCH AND SCREW AROUND SOMEPLACE ELSE!" I then stomped off into the opposite direction, right through the remainders of my home.

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"I WAS WITH HER THE ENTIRE TIME YOU DUMB F*CK!" Yunsung roared. He then gave Taki the finger and stormed off, pulling me with him. I quickened my pace to keep up with him.

"FINE! YOU JUST GO WITH YOUR LITTLE WENCH AND SCREW AROUND SOMEPLACE ELSE!" yelled the woman. I felt my cheeks burn at her ridiculous comment.

After walking for a somewhat short period of time, Yunsung stopped. He had cooled down. e sat on a fallen tree and looked at me. "Sorry. I guess I got carried away. I did not mean to swear THAT much. . . " he gave a small laugh. "I do feel kind of guilty though. . . I mean, her house did burn down. . . "

"Um. . . Yunsung. . . do you and Taki know eachother. . . before all this?"

His eyes pierced mine with a slightly sorrowful look.

"She was my. . . girlfriend. . . until she confessed to being a cheater. The b*tch."

Slightly. Only slightly.

I nodded knowingly. "If you had an affair in my tribe, you were sentenced to. . .er. . . well, let us just say that the result is not pretty."

Yunsung laughed. "Anything like that would be too good for her." he said, spitting the word 'her' as though it was a vile liquid.

I could tell that this woman's affair was only a part of a deeper hatred Yunsung held.

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A/N: Yea, sorry I took so long to update and I hope you enjoyed this chappie. And if you had not noticed, this story is slightly AU. "Slightly. Only Slightly." LOL Anyways, I kept going bakc and forth to writing this and just lounging around when I finally finished.

Just in case the next chappie comes out AFTER next week, Happy Holidays y'allz!

Ciao 4 Now

THe Amazing Sponge