Author's Note: Thank you my reviewers for staying with me thus far, I again owe all my inspiration to keep writing, to you all. Now, the fourth chapter.
Chapter Four
The troubled knight briskly brushed away the soft brown tendrils that clouded his vision, and heaved a sigh of defeat.
"How far could an assassin and a priestess go in one town?"
The peco clucked at its rider with dismay, as if reading his mind and pointing out a flaw.
"wait... an assassin, in a town..."
The peco stared at the pondering knight in an impatient aire.
"come on buddy, I think I know where they are," he replied and set off in the direction of the Payon Caves.
Daisuke cautiously tiptoed into the mouth of a dripping cave, he had tied his steed to a tree nearby, and continued to proceed alone.
On his way he encountered a few farniliar but other than that, it was a rather quiet descent.
He could here the cackling of a flame nearby, he was about to turn the corner to greet the priestess when heard a word that made him freeze.
The silence clung to the air, its only disturbance was the sweat of the cave walls as it dripped drearily, lingering with each ricocheted sound.
"Kaonishi..." the assassin repeated in a glazed remembrance.
Surprised by her own boldness, Hikari quickly shifted her gaze.
"Yes." She fingered the rosary she had kept in often times of stress.
"From what I have heard, each survivor from their raids are marked with a gift is this not true?"
She rolled the beads of the rosary between her fingers gently marveling at their smooth shape.
"I'm surprised that's what they refer it to as.." she chuckled lightly in false consolation, "a gift. If that's what it truly was."
The assassin continued to stare ominously into the lingering flame.
The embers of the flame were nostalgic, as she also stared into the flames blurring in a nauseating haze.
"You weren't the only survivor though, were you?" the question was almost rhetorical, obviously the assassin wasn't very curious of what he actually stated.
"No, there were others, I'm not sure but they could not have been many more, maybe 2 or 3."
Silence once again trembled in the air, a rustling of clothing was heard.
The assassin peered a curious eye towards the priestess, she had unbuttoned the collar of her dress to reveal her left shoulder, which was stained in dark black ink. The mark was intricate and ancient creeping all over her shoulder in inky trails, against her pure ivory skin.
"They were not exaggerating when they referred to it as a mark." She chuckled lightly, filling her face with a gentle smile.
He gazed at the mark with well-disguised fascination.
"You are wondering what my gift is are you not?" She questioned the unasked question.
The assassin paused, than tilted his head in a slight nod, never taking his eyes off the suddenly talkative priestess.
She fingered the sharp edge of the cross on her rosary, and brought it out from her pocket and held it gently in her right hand.
The assassin stared questioningly at the charm.
She took the sharp edge and slit a deep cut into her left wrist.
The assassin continued to stare, as if she had done nothing out of the ordinary.
Instead of blood, a sparkling white aloe-like substance began dripping onto the floor.
Alluring fumes filled the air.
The assassin closed his eyes in intense concentration.
' this scent, the color, the texture... it's, but it can't be.'
He lifted his eyelids and stared at the spot where the white substance had dripped on the floor, and a leaf began sprouting from the hardened soil.
It was photosynthesis in fast motion. Watching the plant bud and grow within the span of seconds. It's leaves glistening from a hidden sun.
"Yggdrasil?" He stated bluntly, "the key to resurrection and everlasting life."
She smiled gently, nodded, and turned to look at him.
"You know it?" she inquired gently, re-buttoning the neck of her dress.
"Yes, it's been used on me once." He stated.
The priestess froze.
'Could there be someone else like me?'
"It was made by an alchemist who had been making it for 50 years, not from a Kaonishi survivor, if that is what you're wondering about." He spoke, diminishing her hopes of finding someone like her.
She smiled gently again.
"So I see..." She trailed.
'The Kaonishi...'
He gritted his teeth in anger, from the mentioning of the name.
::flashback::
A boy of 10 backed up against the corner of his home, cowering under the leering shadows of two hooded men.
"shall I do it, or do you want to?" an eerie voice retorted from one of the hooded men.
"wait," the other blocked his partner with his arm. He crouched low to the boy and removed his hood unveiling a face with dangerous gray eyes, framed by red hair.
"Join us, boy, and we will spare your life." He muttered to the crouching figure.
"n-no!" the boy sobbed in frustration. He glared menacingly back at the stranger.
"I am going to be the best knight of all Prontera, I'd rather die than join you!" he yelled in anguish.
The red-haired man grinned, and stood up and revealed a hand from his cloak, static bolts emanating from his palm.
"I admire your bravery, boy"
The red-haired wizard with a swish of his hand sent the bolts on the boy.
The boy fell to the floor with a dull sound, barely conscious.
"I like you," the wizard commended, "I look forward to fighting you, when you truly are the best knight of Prontera..."
The heavy lids of the boy fell, and the boy drifted to unconsciousness.
::end flashback::
The unlikely pair sat staring at the fire, the priestess began fingering the leaves of the little plant that had grown to knee height within the last minute.
She flashed her eyes towards the assassin, her brow furrowed in curiosity.
"umm... how do you come to know so much about.. the Kaonishi?" she asked timidly.
His pause was eerily revealing, and the priestess was hit with a realization, that she wish she hadn't asked.
"because," he replied in his monotonous voice.
"I was one of them."
Author's Note: I like this chapter a lot, but I think I still could have done better... Thank you for your support! Please Review.. it keeps me writing.