Disclaimer Oh gee, this again? Oh well, I don't own SC or it's charcters,
they are property of Namco and I not making profit from this. Though MY
characters created must not be used by any other author without my
permission or I shall hunt them down in their sleep.
A/N Eh. . . .been a while. I kind of lost my inspiration for this chapter
and I just now got over that writing block, and now I be back inta da
groove. So pardon me if it sucks, I just got over a 2 month writers block,
sue me :P wait. . .I take back the last statement, don't sue me! My
fragile mind wouldn't be able to handle it! WAAHHHH *runs off into the
background*. Anyway, here it is, Chapter 8, and chapter 9 be comin' soon
*coughmonthcough*
Chapter 8: The Hunter's Return
Taki lost the trail. She had the little demon right where she wanted him, and then he just disappeared, leaving no trace. This angered Taki to an extent. The demon she was hunting was a notorious genius. It had covered its trail too well, even for Taki. Demons were coming from everywhere; appearing mysteriously to attack in the dark, then disappear. Ever since the darkness fell, there had been no shortage of prey for Taki.
"Damn." Taki muttered. For once, she had no clue where she was. All Taki knew was that she was somewhere in Spain when she lost trail. She had haplessly wandered in the more logical areas, but could not pick up the trail. So far Taki deducted that the last possible place the demon could be hiding was under the shelter of Raphael. Despite how much she loathed Raphael and the Soul Edge, she dared not try to sneak into Raphael's heavily fortified citadel without others. It would be a suicide mission, waste of lives. That was most likely the case; the demon was in Raphael's territory because it knew Taki dared not tread there.
"That conniving bastard." She uttered under her breath as she sat in a rapidly decaying tree. She took a survey of her surroundings then pulled out her small hip-pouch and flipped open the flap. As soon as the flap went up, a yellow glow gleamed forth. Taki took out a large, illuminated shard of metal and examined it. She had found several yellow shards imbedded within the foreheads of several demons. Something in those shards called out to her so she pried them off and stuck them in her pouch. In some weird way, they had managed to bind themselves together while in the pouch. Taki tossed it back and forth between her hands, watching the shard leave a trail of yellow luminescence in the air.
"Odd little thing. . ." Taki quietly muttered. It gave off a good amount of light, yet it had no heat radiating from it. It only had one razor edge and Taki just couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly, from the dark, there came a loud snort and the cracking of dead twigs. Taki crouched in silence on the tree branch and scanned where the sound came from.
Out of the darkness, a bull-like demon rushed the tree Taki sat in, obviously drawn by her light source. Right before the head connected with the tree, Taki leapt out and behind the beast. The creature's horns stuck into the tree, but it quickly shoved itself off and turned to face the demon hunter as she landed. Unfortunately for the demon, catching Taki by surprise was a hard thing to do as she quickly leapt to the side after landing when the beast charged again with a furious roar. Regaining her balance, Taki quickly dashed behind the demon before it fully stopped from its charge. Several quick jabs and slashes into the back of the beast dropped it like a stone. The demon gave one last dying grunt and Taki wiped the blood from her daggers onto the once-demon's fur. She studied the corpse briefly and found it had a Third Eye gemstone placed on its forehead, much like the one on the demon she was hunting.
"Hmph, Rajied sent a little gift it seems. . ." Sheathing the daggers, Taki slipped off into the darkness, not wanting to draw anymore demons with the scent of blood and the yells of combat.
O======I==================================================
In his own little wing of Raphael's citadel, Rajied sat. He looked over all of his "subjects", namely hideously twisted demon-men. The more human he convinced to join him, the more demons he would make. It was only a matter of time before Raphael is overthrown, and with Raphael out of the picture, Rajied would bind himself with the Soul Edge and make this petty world a raging maelstrom of fire. Oh it will be glorious, destroying every last living being on the miserable planet and harvesting their souls. Power, that's what drove demons, raw power. The more power demons got, the more they crave, even if it meant turning on each other. That is what Rajied planned, a backstabbing, all in the sake of power. But wait! Rather then taking the risk of stabbing Raphael in the back, why not let someone else kill him? Yes, an even better plan Rajied thought up. When the so called "heroes" show up and beat down Raphael's forces, Raphael will call for help. But he'll get none. Let the so called "heroes" slay Raphael, then pop in last minute and steal the Soul Edge. A brilliant plan. In the darkness of his dungeon, the glint of Rajied's teeth can be seen in the dim torchlight, his face plastered with a malevolent grin, and occasionally, the maniacal laughter can be heard echoing through his halls. The world will burn under Rajied, and there's no one who will dare stop him.
O======I==================================================
Takaishi sat watching Xianghua pace back and forth. She had been pacing for over a half hour now and Takaishi was getting bored.
"Must you keep doing that?" Takaishi sighed.
"Well you don't have to sit there and watch!" Xianghua snapped irritably. Takaishi held up his hands innocently as she snapped at him.
"Sorry, sorry, was thinking out loud." He said quickly, but that seemed to just irritate Xianghua more. Xianghua finally stopped pacing and sat on the ground staring into the fire. So many things were running through her head. Most of her thoughts concerned her mission. Maybe both of them should find this so called "savior weapon" and pray that it gives them an upper hand, or should they just go straight to Spain and knock on Raphael's door. Her other thoughts concerned Takaishi. She kept most of her emotions concerning her "partner" bottled up. The emotions that she often shows though were anger and frustration, and she had a lot of frustration currently.
"Listen Xiang, what's bothering you?" He said, leaning forward facing her.
"It's nothing. . ." she said in a half-whisper. This just made Takaishi frown.
"Listen Xiang, you're a terrible, terrible liar, so just tell me what's going on and you won't have to suffer me asking anymore questions." Takaishi said, pointing a finger at her.
"It's just concerning the mission. Half of my brain says to get this all over-with, the other half is saying we should find a better way." She responded
"Huh, that it?" Takaishi said, leaning back a bit. Xianghua hesitated a bit.
'Maybe I should tell him. . .' she thought, 'no. . . . No, I couldn't not now; he probably doesn't feel that way. What if he does though? But if he isn't . . . No, I should tell him later, when this is all over.'
"Xiang?"
"Oh, sorry, just thinking again." She said and smiled, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sheesh, major mood swing there." Takaishi uttered under his breath to himself. He new she was still hiding something, but he chose to pry into her thoughts another time.
"Well, I still say we should find this sword thing, we'll need any advantage we can get." Takaishi said, directed at Xianghua.
"I was thinking the same thing, but what is bad about that plan is, how long would it take us to completely build the sword?" Xianghua sighed and laid back on the dead grass.
"Why would it matter, we're not in a rush, it's not like Raphael's going to destroy the whole world, he merely wishes to . . . enslave it." Takaishi sighed as well, looking into the flickering fire, watching the flames dance across the burning logs. There was something in fire that seemed so beautiful to him. The fire reminded him of Xianghua. The way she fights, almost like a dance, as she leaps from one victim to another, gracefully lunging and feinting . . . Takaishi shook his head as he found himself staring at Xianghua, who lay on the grass half asleep.
"Who's turn to watch the fire?" She said while staring into the black skies.
"Mine I think. We stopped at an inn last time, so that would have normally been my turn." Takaishi replied.
"I guess so, goodnight then Takaishi." Xianghua yawned and crawled into her tent.
Takaishi continued to stare into the fire, then threw a handful of dead grass into it and watched the sparks plume upward. It would be a long night.
O======I==================================================
"Rheaol? Where are you dammit?" Rajeid's voice echoed with anger. Rajied didn't understand why he made that particular demon. It was completely arrogant and ignored commands. The only redeeming trait about Rheaol was his skill with the blade.
"Rheaol where are you bastard? Your creator ORDERS you to show yourself!" Rajied roared. From the corner of the dungeon, a man stepped forth. His head was covered with a hood and face masked by a veil. His eyes glowed blood red and the weapons strapped to his back gleamed in the torchlight. To top off the man's sinister look, he wore a black robe, tied with a sash adorned with human skulls and demon claws.
"What is it now, you fool?" Rheaol spoke calmly.
"Fool? FOOL? I'm the one who created you, and I can just as easily send you back to were you came from." Rajied snapped.
"If you are done ranting, tell me my job, or leave me be, you've wasted enough of my time." Rheaol said with a small hint of malevolence in his voice.
"Why you . . ." Rajied roared, letting loose a bit of his primal energies before snapping back, "You are to seek out these warriors-"The demon lord handed his assassin several small, glowing green crystals, "-and fight them. Those who do not stand a match for you, kill them, if some manage to drive you away, return here with their crystal. I need to know just how strong they are."
"As you will." Rheaol slipped off into the darkness and left Rajied rubbing the temples of his human form.
"Why did I create that little bastard? I always get a headache from talking with him."
O======I==================================================
Iataik had made a slow but steady recovery under the care of Seung Mina. After a few months, he had nearly recovered. Now, rather than being bed ridden, Iataik could help Seung Mina with the chores. Each "day" was nearly the same though. All he did was check the fires and torches, fetch some firewood, then spar until mealtime, then rest. It was all the same, and it drove him mad. Sometimes he felt like he had to escape. Seung Mina drove him mad as well. Most of the time she was an enjoyable presence, but she often compared him to his former master, Kilik. Iataik's desire for revenge didn't help his current situation either. Often he found himself picturing Kilik's death as well as seeing himself running his spear through that bastard demon Raphael.
'As soon as I get all my strength back, I'm going to hunt that demon down and deliver the wrath of vengeance. My comrades and masters death are not in vain as long as I still walk this plane.' Iataik thought as he spared with Seung Mina. For all safety reasons, the head of his spear was taken off by her, yet she kept the blade on her staff. She never struck back either, only blocked and dodged. This bugged Iataik as well. Though he wasn't exactly asking for pain, he would at least like some challenge to sparing.
"Can't . . . You hit back . . . for once?" He said in between blows. After ending his sentence, he brought the staff down hard at Seung Mina's head, only to have it blocked.
"Why? Just so I hurt you then have to care for you more?" She said with an almost bored voice.
"No, I just would like a challenge right now." He responded, lowering his staff.
"Well I don't want you hurting yourself right after recovering, that's why I'm not hitting back." She said, jabbing the blade of her weapon into the ground. Seung Mina stretched out her arms.
"Oh come on, I can take it." He said, sounding almost immature.
"No, in another month maybe, but not yet." She said, picking up her weapon and placing it on her shoulder.
"You aren't my master, Seung Mina." He said.
". . . I know, but it's what Kilik would have wanted." She said as she walked into the hut.
"Damnit! There she goes again! Why must she always bring him up?" He said out loud. Maybe too out loud, because Seung Mina heard him through the walls. It was true, she was comparing him to Kilik. Perhaps she should try and forget Kilik, but something in her mind just wanted to grip onto the dying memories of one of her greatest companions.
End Chapter
A/N So yep, Taki be back for those who whined about here :P you know who you are. Planning on bringing back a lot of old characters LATER in the fic so don't be bothering with them. There are some couples I've thrown on the backburner and I kinda feel guilty about that. I've almost exclusively used TakxXian for each chapter because I have so much to cram in before *spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler* and I really want their relationship to develop before then. As for the other "couples" It's going to take a little bit longer. So R&R and nag me about crud in this chapter in your reviews. No flamers or I hunt you down and REALLY show you what flaming means *grabs a blowtorch and straps on a bandolier loaded with firecrackers*.
Chapter 8: The Hunter's Return
Taki lost the trail. She had the little demon right where she wanted him, and then he just disappeared, leaving no trace. This angered Taki to an extent. The demon she was hunting was a notorious genius. It had covered its trail too well, even for Taki. Demons were coming from everywhere; appearing mysteriously to attack in the dark, then disappear. Ever since the darkness fell, there had been no shortage of prey for Taki.
"Damn." Taki muttered. For once, she had no clue where she was. All Taki knew was that she was somewhere in Spain when she lost trail. She had haplessly wandered in the more logical areas, but could not pick up the trail. So far Taki deducted that the last possible place the demon could be hiding was under the shelter of Raphael. Despite how much she loathed Raphael and the Soul Edge, she dared not try to sneak into Raphael's heavily fortified citadel without others. It would be a suicide mission, waste of lives. That was most likely the case; the demon was in Raphael's territory because it knew Taki dared not tread there.
"That conniving bastard." She uttered under her breath as she sat in a rapidly decaying tree. She took a survey of her surroundings then pulled out her small hip-pouch and flipped open the flap. As soon as the flap went up, a yellow glow gleamed forth. Taki took out a large, illuminated shard of metal and examined it. She had found several yellow shards imbedded within the foreheads of several demons. Something in those shards called out to her so she pried them off and stuck them in her pouch. In some weird way, they had managed to bind themselves together while in the pouch. Taki tossed it back and forth between her hands, watching the shard leave a trail of yellow luminescence in the air.
"Odd little thing. . ." Taki quietly muttered. It gave off a good amount of light, yet it had no heat radiating from it. It only had one razor edge and Taki just couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly, from the dark, there came a loud snort and the cracking of dead twigs. Taki crouched in silence on the tree branch and scanned where the sound came from.
Out of the darkness, a bull-like demon rushed the tree Taki sat in, obviously drawn by her light source. Right before the head connected with the tree, Taki leapt out and behind the beast. The creature's horns stuck into the tree, but it quickly shoved itself off and turned to face the demon hunter as she landed. Unfortunately for the demon, catching Taki by surprise was a hard thing to do as she quickly leapt to the side after landing when the beast charged again with a furious roar. Regaining her balance, Taki quickly dashed behind the demon before it fully stopped from its charge. Several quick jabs and slashes into the back of the beast dropped it like a stone. The demon gave one last dying grunt and Taki wiped the blood from her daggers onto the once-demon's fur. She studied the corpse briefly and found it had a Third Eye gemstone placed on its forehead, much like the one on the demon she was hunting.
"Hmph, Rajied sent a little gift it seems. . ." Sheathing the daggers, Taki slipped off into the darkness, not wanting to draw anymore demons with the scent of blood and the yells of combat.
O======I==================================================
In his own little wing of Raphael's citadel, Rajied sat. He looked over all of his "subjects", namely hideously twisted demon-men. The more human he convinced to join him, the more demons he would make. It was only a matter of time before Raphael is overthrown, and with Raphael out of the picture, Rajied would bind himself with the Soul Edge and make this petty world a raging maelstrom of fire. Oh it will be glorious, destroying every last living being on the miserable planet and harvesting their souls. Power, that's what drove demons, raw power. The more power demons got, the more they crave, even if it meant turning on each other. That is what Rajied planned, a backstabbing, all in the sake of power. But wait! Rather then taking the risk of stabbing Raphael in the back, why not let someone else kill him? Yes, an even better plan Rajied thought up. When the so called "heroes" show up and beat down Raphael's forces, Raphael will call for help. But he'll get none. Let the so called "heroes" slay Raphael, then pop in last minute and steal the Soul Edge. A brilliant plan. In the darkness of his dungeon, the glint of Rajied's teeth can be seen in the dim torchlight, his face plastered with a malevolent grin, and occasionally, the maniacal laughter can be heard echoing through his halls. The world will burn under Rajied, and there's no one who will dare stop him.
O======I==================================================
Takaishi sat watching Xianghua pace back and forth. She had been pacing for over a half hour now and Takaishi was getting bored.
"Must you keep doing that?" Takaishi sighed.
"Well you don't have to sit there and watch!" Xianghua snapped irritably. Takaishi held up his hands innocently as she snapped at him.
"Sorry, sorry, was thinking out loud." He said quickly, but that seemed to just irritate Xianghua more. Xianghua finally stopped pacing and sat on the ground staring into the fire. So many things were running through her head. Most of her thoughts concerned her mission. Maybe both of them should find this so called "savior weapon" and pray that it gives them an upper hand, or should they just go straight to Spain and knock on Raphael's door. Her other thoughts concerned Takaishi. She kept most of her emotions concerning her "partner" bottled up. The emotions that she often shows though were anger and frustration, and she had a lot of frustration currently.
"Listen Xiang, what's bothering you?" He said, leaning forward facing her.
"It's nothing. . ." she said in a half-whisper. This just made Takaishi frown.
"Listen Xiang, you're a terrible, terrible liar, so just tell me what's going on and you won't have to suffer me asking anymore questions." Takaishi said, pointing a finger at her.
"It's just concerning the mission. Half of my brain says to get this all over-with, the other half is saying we should find a better way." She responded
"Huh, that it?" Takaishi said, leaning back a bit. Xianghua hesitated a bit.
'Maybe I should tell him. . .' she thought, 'no. . . . No, I couldn't not now; he probably doesn't feel that way. What if he does though? But if he isn't . . . No, I should tell him later, when this is all over.'
"Xiang?"
"Oh, sorry, just thinking again." She said and smiled, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sheesh, major mood swing there." Takaishi uttered under his breath to himself. He new she was still hiding something, but he chose to pry into her thoughts another time.
"Well, I still say we should find this sword thing, we'll need any advantage we can get." Takaishi said, directed at Xianghua.
"I was thinking the same thing, but what is bad about that plan is, how long would it take us to completely build the sword?" Xianghua sighed and laid back on the dead grass.
"Why would it matter, we're not in a rush, it's not like Raphael's going to destroy the whole world, he merely wishes to . . . enslave it." Takaishi sighed as well, looking into the flickering fire, watching the flames dance across the burning logs. There was something in fire that seemed so beautiful to him. The fire reminded him of Xianghua. The way she fights, almost like a dance, as she leaps from one victim to another, gracefully lunging and feinting . . . Takaishi shook his head as he found himself staring at Xianghua, who lay on the grass half asleep.
"Who's turn to watch the fire?" She said while staring into the black skies.
"Mine I think. We stopped at an inn last time, so that would have normally been my turn." Takaishi replied.
"I guess so, goodnight then Takaishi." Xianghua yawned and crawled into her tent.
Takaishi continued to stare into the fire, then threw a handful of dead grass into it and watched the sparks plume upward. It would be a long night.
O======I==================================================
"Rheaol? Where are you dammit?" Rajeid's voice echoed with anger. Rajied didn't understand why he made that particular demon. It was completely arrogant and ignored commands. The only redeeming trait about Rheaol was his skill with the blade.
"Rheaol where are you bastard? Your creator ORDERS you to show yourself!" Rajied roared. From the corner of the dungeon, a man stepped forth. His head was covered with a hood and face masked by a veil. His eyes glowed blood red and the weapons strapped to his back gleamed in the torchlight. To top off the man's sinister look, he wore a black robe, tied with a sash adorned with human skulls and demon claws.
"What is it now, you fool?" Rheaol spoke calmly.
"Fool? FOOL? I'm the one who created you, and I can just as easily send you back to were you came from." Rajied snapped.
"If you are done ranting, tell me my job, or leave me be, you've wasted enough of my time." Rheaol said with a small hint of malevolence in his voice.
"Why you . . ." Rajied roared, letting loose a bit of his primal energies before snapping back, "You are to seek out these warriors-"The demon lord handed his assassin several small, glowing green crystals, "-and fight them. Those who do not stand a match for you, kill them, if some manage to drive you away, return here with their crystal. I need to know just how strong they are."
"As you will." Rheaol slipped off into the darkness and left Rajied rubbing the temples of his human form.
"Why did I create that little bastard? I always get a headache from talking with him."
O======I==================================================
Iataik had made a slow but steady recovery under the care of Seung Mina. After a few months, he had nearly recovered. Now, rather than being bed ridden, Iataik could help Seung Mina with the chores. Each "day" was nearly the same though. All he did was check the fires and torches, fetch some firewood, then spar until mealtime, then rest. It was all the same, and it drove him mad. Sometimes he felt like he had to escape. Seung Mina drove him mad as well. Most of the time she was an enjoyable presence, but she often compared him to his former master, Kilik. Iataik's desire for revenge didn't help his current situation either. Often he found himself picturing Kilik's death as well as seeing himself running his spear through that bastard demon Raphael.
'As soon as I get all my strength back, I'm going to hunt that demon down and deliver the wrath of vengeance. My comrades and masters death are not in vain as long as I still walk this plane.' Iataik thought as he spared with Seung Mina. For all safety reasons, the head of his spear was taken off by her, yet she kept the blade on her staff. She never struck back either, only blocked and dodged. This bugged Iataik as well. Though he wasn't exactly asking for pain, he would at least like some challenge to sparing.
"Can't . . . You hit back . . . for once?" He said in between blows. After ending his sentence, he brought the staff down hard at Seung Mina's head, only to have it blocked.
"Why? Just so I hurt you then have to care for you more?" She said with an almost bored voice.
"No, I just would like a challenge right now." He responded, lowering his staff.
"Well I don't want you hurting yourself right after recovering, that's why I'm not hitting back." She said, jabbing the blade of her weapon into the ground. Seung Mina stretched out her arms.
"Oh come on, I can take it." He said, sounding almost immature.
"No, in another month maybe, but not yet." She said, picking up her weapon and placing it on her shoulder.
"You aren't my master, Seung Mina." He said.
". . . I know, but it's what Kilik would have wanted." She said as she walked into the hut.
"Damnit! There she goes again! Why must she always bring him up?" He said out loud. Maybe too out loud, because Seung Mina heard him through the walls. It was true, she was comparing him to Kilik. Perhaps she should try and forget Kilik, but something in her mind just wanted to grip onto the dying memories of one of her greatest companions.
End Chapter
A/N So yep, Taki be back for those who whined about here :P you know who you are. Planning on bringing back a lot of old characters LATER in the fic so don't be bothering with them. There are some couples I've thrown on the backburner and I kinda feel guilty about that. I've almost exclusively used TakxXian for each chapter because I have so much to cram in before *spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler* and I really want their relationship to develop before then. As for the other "couples" It's going to take a little bit longer. So R&R and nag me about crud in this chapter in your reviews. No flamers or I hunt you down and REALLY show you what flaming means *grabs a blowtorch and straps on a bandolier loaded with firecrackers*.