Grim foreshadow is one of the worlds greatest ironies.

When Ronin had warned Toklata not to get caught by Konosuke, it had all been in good fun, just a little taunt to make her hurry up with his cloak.

By time Ronin got back to the cave, being out in the sun had completely drained him of energy. He wouldn't have shown it with Toklata around, but the huge fiery orb really took quite a toll on his body whenever he felt the need to walk out into it (or was forced into it by, once again, those damned vampire hunters). The fact that he had always preferred the darkness over the day, even when he had been human or a half-vampire, didn't help to make him any fonder of it, either.

He groaned and threw himself one the ground, cursing as his head bounced off of a rock. Sleep pulled at Ronin's eyelids, threatening a slumber he was afraid he wouldn't come out of; that's how tired he was.

The night before, he had fallen asleep shortly after Toklata, but had been waking up on and off throughout the night. It felt odd, to him, to be sleeping during the night. Then, once he had finally gotten settled, the nightmares had come.

And now all that missed sleep was beginning to catch up with him.

It can't do any harm if I just drift off for a bit…

Footsteps. Heavy footsteps.

"Ronin!"

Ronin mentally cursed himself, his eyes snapping open at the sound of Toklata's panicked voice. He was met with cold eyes and filthy dirt-smeared blonde hair.

He had a terrified looking Toklata slung over his shoulder. She was wailing, but doing everything in her power to hinder him; kicking and clawing. It was apparent that this alone wouldn't stop him when he growled, "Dammit, girl. I wanted to wake the vampire up."

Ronin rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, and smacked himself lightly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he was absolutely positive, he spoke in a slow, careful tone of voice. "Konosuke…she has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with this…you let her go and I'll—"

"The way I see it," Konosuke replied, "you're in no position to bargain with me, so don't—Shut up, you!"

Toklata, who had been quietly sobbing throughout it all (not to mention still kicking Konosuke's back), suddenly shrunk at the sound of the huge man snapping at her so suddenly.

"Apparently the vampire's got you on a leash," he spat. "Well, that's good for me. I'll be keeping you for a while."

"Konosuke…" Ronin still had his gently urging voice. "There's no need to—"

"I told you, you're in no position to negotiate with me, Takoda!" Konosuke's sharp voice dropped a few levels. "And it wouldn't be any fun…if I didn't get to toy with you a bit…before I killed you."

"Don't be cocky, Konosuke. If you hurt her, I'll be the one who's going to do the killing."

The Hunter looked a little surprised at this, mostly because of Ronin's absolutely vicious tone of voice. Ronin's eyes wavered over to where his sword should have been, but found it nowhere near. He nodded slightly to himself, deciding to try to just claw at Konosuke while he still had that look of surprise.

Unfortunately, Konosuke had noticed Ronin's all-too-eager eyes searching for his stolen weapon, and anticipated whet the vampire planned to do next. Just as Ronin lunged for Konosuke's throat, he whipped Toklata out in front of him by, again, the back of her shirt, as a sort of shield.

Ronin pulled back immediately at the sight of her, and Konosuke grinned.

"Ah, so you really do seem to care for her," he said mockingly. "Tell me, Takoda, will you fail to protect her, just like you failed to protect your dear Jaden?"

"Don't let my master's name ever pass your filthy lips again," Ronin growled dangerously. "Or I'll personally—"

"Careful with the threats, there's a child present, rememb—"

Toklata took this as the perfect opportunity to kick Konosuke in a very delicate spot. He did wince and crouch in pain, but he never dropped her, never gave Ronin a decent opening to attack.

"Vampire-hugging wench," he mumbled under his breath, gripping onto Toklata's shoulder and squeezing hard.

She winced, and Ronin growled at Konosuke.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"I," Konosuke started, innocently enough, "just want to slice you into itty, bitty pieces…slowly. Your other option is…" He grinned down at the girl, who now had begun to shake, that he held in his tight grip, and then laughed. "You look so…so worried, Takoda. Don't be—I'm not going to kill her; that would make me no better than yourself. However, I might be inclined to knock her around a bit, knowing that she seems to be so fond of you."

"Konosuke, please. Let her go. You know damn well how unfair that is. And not to me, to her."

"I'm sure she knew the risks she was taking, befriending a vampire."

Ronin's temper finally snapped. Abandoning his gentle voice and the hope of striking some sort of deal with Konosuke, he stood up. "She's so young! She didn't know what she was getting herself into! You put her down now, Konosuke, and I won't murder you!"

The vampire hunter seemed to be very amused with Ronin's outburst, and hadn't taken a single one of his words to heart. He still held Toklata out in front of himself as a makeshift shield, and she seemed to have calmed down, knowing that Ronin wouldn't hurt her, and that Konosuke wouldn't hurt her while Ronin was there.

Toklata wasn't following what the two men were saying too closely. She heard her name a few times, but the rest didn't seem to matter. She was absolutely positive Ronin would get her out of Konosuke's tight grip. He had a clever tongue, after all. And even if he couldn't talk his way out, Toklata had complete faith in his abilities as a swordsman.

She let herself drift into a comfortably hazy half-sleep, even though Konosuke was holding her to his chest, dangling her feet above the ground. She had been terrified before…maybe she still was, but there was a sort of relaxing about hearing bits and pieces of Ronin's hypnotic voice.

Two gunshots woke her up. She knew that she couldn't have been drifting for more than a few minutes, but she had, quite clearly, missed something.

Ronin was back on the ground, clutching at his legs, which were growing steadily darker with blood. Part of her wanted to scream for him, but some other part kept her silent.

And curious.

Toklata had never seen quite so much blood coming from one place. Even when she had seen Ronin kill a man, the blood hadn't just oozed out of him the way Ronin's was pouring out of his legs. It looked sticky and unpleasant, and she didn't like the way Ronin was cringing.

Konosuke, who had been holding Toklata up with a single hand, now held a gun in his free one. He was grinning horridly down at his injured prey, like a malicious cat would to a caught-but-not-yet-dead mouse.

"I'm going to take your buddy now," he said, still smirking, "before you can get up and chase after me. It won't be any fun if you don't have to search for your prize, so I can't let you see where I'm taking her. Maybe you'll be able to follow our scents anyway…but I'd suggest picking those bullets out of your thighs first. Don't worry, I'll take care of the girl."

As Konosuke turned, taking Toklata with him, she could've sworn Ronin was about to get up and attack him from behind. He gave his legs a quick glance though, and apparently thought better of it.

No use sinking to the enemy's level, especially with my legs like this. With my luck, going after him now would practically insure infection, and, shortly after, my own death, the vampire mused to himself. But as soon as I get these bullets out and the wounds washed, I've got a girl to save. Konosuke won't kill her, but I don't like the idea of them being alone…