Chapter 4: Rise

Shortly after the assassin noticed her absence, he managed to track her here. She was grossly unskilled at covering her tracks. Was she being hunted, her enemies would have found her long ago. That was reassuring, in a way, that Hotel Moscow clearly did not intend to find Usagi. Although, they probably thought she still remained in Hong Kong, fatherless and blind to what had happened. How wrong they were. Wolf glanced at the fire escape that ran up along the height of the building. He could smell her, the subtle hint of cherry that followed her everywhere. He walked over to the metal steps and started to ascend, the smell becoming stronger as he neared the very top. Sure enough, when he emerged onto the building's roof she was standing there, at the other side. She was facing in the other direction, her eyes on the street below. Why she had come here was a mystery. Truth be told, the assassin was relieved she had not come to harm. Though he hadn't exchanged a word with her in almost a month while she locked herself away and lived on takeout food, he was quick to notice the silence in his apartment this evening. It was clear she was missing and Wolf, fearing the worst, went after her. It was reassuring that she hadn't been taken by the more depraved criminals in this city. They probably all knew better than to invoke his wrath, anyway.

Wolf breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk slowly towards her. She said not a word, not yet, and he allowed her the moment of silence. It seemed plausible that she did not want to speak to him at all after what happened in Hong Kong. He came to a stop beside her and his own eyes fell on the street below them, watching the occasional car pass by and the petty criminals and thugs who didn't have the sense to confine their disputes to the indoors like most others in recent times.

"I wasn't expecting you to come after me," Usagi spoke first. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her. There was something different about her, an air of solemnity and calmness that hadn't been there before. Usagi was only five years or so younger than Wolf and Revy, but she had always had an unmistakable aura of innocence and youth about her that the others lacked. Now, though, that aura was glaringly absent. It had been replaced by an almost unsettling stoicism. Wolf turned his head to the side and he looked her up and down, noticing the gun he had given her sprouting from the back of her jeans, her father's gun. She had never used one before, to his knowledge anyway, but she came very close the night they returned from Hong Kong. After learning that Wolf had killed her father, she was prepared to gun him down for his crime. It was still unclear whether she was acting from pure emotion or if she truly was ready to take his life. Wolf returned his gaze to the street.

"I noticed you were missing," he said dismissively. "Wanted to know where you were. You know how dangerous it is here."

"That's kind of you." There was an edge to her voice as she said that.

"What are you doing out here?" Wolf asked after an extended silence. He had some idea already, but he wanted to hear it from her. More than likely, she just wanted to get away, from him and the apartment she had spent time in before. There were a lot of dark memories there, ones Wolf himself was not eager to relive.

"I've been thinking," Usagi answered. "Ever since the day you came for me, when you took me from my home…there has been a lot on my mind." Wolf did not respond right away, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't been expecting some kind of confrontation regarding it all.

"Look, Usagi," he began, but he did not get the chance to finish.

"I don't need an explanation," she told him assertively. "An apology. I've gotten both already. What's done is done. There is no going back, now. We can look only to the future." Despite the face value implications of that statement, Wolf could not help but feel concerned. He allowed her to continue. "Unalterable circumstances led me to this moment. All I can do is pick up the pieces." For the first time since Wolf had fallen in beside her, she turned to look him in the eye. "Balalaika destroyed the rebellion my father started, I can see that now. He was…impulsive. He knew nothing of caution or strategy. After…Hunter…died, he had the first taste of freedom in years. And it drove him mad. I will not make that mistake."

Wolf folded his arms and sighed as he deduced what she was getting at.

"If this is going where I think it is, you can stop right there," he told her.

"I can rebuild, Wolf," she told him. "There are others I could call on. Some of my father's allies will have survived the massacre. He had older friends, too, who would have denied his call to arms, I know it. But they will answer my call."

"Usagi," Wolf began, trying to think of the best way to word what he was about to say. In the end, he threw caution to the wind and opted for brutal honesty instead. "That's about the stupidest fucking idea I've ever heard. Your father rallied the crime families of Hong Kong in the greatest gang war the city had ever seen, and they were all wiped out on their home turf. And you want to follow in his footsteps?" Usagi did not smile. In actual fact, she gave nothing away and just stared forward at the building across the street.

"As I said, I wouldn't repeat his mistakes. I am his daughter, the only heir to his empire. You might find it absurd, but his people would honour that. They would follow me. With the wealth he left behind, I could build something great." Wolf couldn't believe what he was hearing. After everything that had happened, how Rahul had taken the first chance to return home and live in peace with his daughter and their close friend Augustus Kells, the former gang member squandered it all by rebelling against Hotel Moscow and incurring the anger of the Triad. And even though it led to his demise, Usagi still wanted to do the same, to throw herself into a life of crime and waste the opportunity she had to make the most of her freedom.

Wolf did not know if Hotel Moscow would have come for her eventually, but if they would have, he had given her a second chance by sneaking her aboard the Maria Zeleska and taking her home with him. It felt like a slap in the face to hear her speak of this now.

"You should know better than anyone how terrible an idea that is," Wolf growled. "If you do this, then you'll end up getting the attention of the ruling factions. That is the last thing you want to do. Hunter tried it, and where did he end up? Savaged at the edge of the city. Others tried it, too, thinking they could take on the world and come out alive. Balalaika and Chang showed them who the bosses are in this city. Trust me, you'll end up the same way."

"I have no interest in interfering with Roanapur's leaders," Usagi assured him. "They can burn themselves to ashes for all I care, this place interests me none. But I have no place in the world, not anymore. Unless I take control of my own destiny and give those who would have been loyal to my father a reason to go on again." Wolf had to pity her, in a way. She had been thrust into the darkness with no warning, much like he had been snatched away from his life by his old master, and now she was trying to make a name for herself in this world. But he couldn't stand by her, not for this. It was far too foolish.

"Maybe if you were still in Hong Kong," Wolf told her. "You might have some chance of surviving. The Triad might leave you alone, if you were lucky. But here? Forget about it. It's too dangerous."

"As it happens, you made sure I could never have a life in Hong Kong," she slighted him. Her words cut through him like a knife. "Any chance I had of surviving there died with my father. I don't hold it against you, Wolf. Like I said, I understand. But there is no place for me back there. This city…Roanapur…I used to see it as such a horrible place. But it's a land of opportunity. I just have to reach out and take what's mine."

Wolf said nothing for a time and the two of them stood there in silence, thinking on what had been said. It was obvious there was no changing her mind about this. Perhaps she was right, and she would be able to silently rebuild her father's empire in the shadows without the ruling factions noticing. But the Wolf knew all too well that if they heard even a whisper of what she was doing, they would come for her with red hot fury and end any hope she had for a life. By committing to this, she was putting her own life on the line. It was a big risk, but one she was clearly prepared to take.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go," Wolf said through gritted teeth. "Your father said he would take you home to live in peace. You should have had a normal life, away from this place. What the fuck was he thinking?!"

"I know," Usagi said softly. "Suffice it to say, Wolf…things don't always go the way we hope. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do you trust me?" The assassin locked eyes with her, unsure of how to respond.

"Usagi, I…"

"When I came to this city, I was so lost, so frightened. And you took me in. A savage killer that answered to no one, and yet you made it your mission to keep me safe. If not for you, I would never have survived in this place."

Wolf shut his eyes and remembered returning from the Rip-Off Church, seeing her curled into a ball in his apartment after what Black Bear had done to her. He deserved no praise for protecting her. He had failed completely. He opened his eyes again and looked in the other direction.

"You've only just gotten a taste of the darkness," he told her. "Intoxicating, isn't it? Fills you up from tits to toes. But take it from someone who's known its cold embrace much longer…you don't want this. It will eat you alive if you let it."

"Then I won't let it," Usagi said firmly. The assassin couldn't tell if she was being blindly optimistic or if she truly would be cut out for this. Maybe he was underestimating her, and she would take to the shadows better than most. But the track record was not reassuring. More often than not, this world corrupted the mightiest men and women until they were pathetic shells of their former selves. "I know the fear you have in your heart, the fear I had in mine when I had to see my father under the thumb of the Dead Men. You want to know what I see? I see my loyal followers behind me, my father's old subordinates having sworn allegiance to his only child. I see myself as nothing more than I am now, an innocent Chinese girl with nothing to hide. That is exactly how the others in this city will see me, too. Except for you. I would have you by my side, Wolf. My closest companion…I know you would tear my enemies to shreds."

"So you would use me, is that it?" Wolf snapped back, turning to face her again. "A shield between you and Roanapur in case you step on too many toes."

"I see you as a part of me," Usagi clarified. "I would never use you, Wolf. You would be my right hand, my jiān hù rén. Give me this chance. Would it be so wrong to allow me this?" Wolf averted his gaze once again and looked below, at the passing cars. The moonlight flooded down to wash over them, now, having been obstructed by a building earlier. Wolf glanced up at it. It was beautiful, in an eerie sort of way. He had a decision to make.

"I never wanted this for you," he said solemnly. "I hoped you would never come back here."

"I know," Usagi assured him. "And I appreciate that more than you will ever know. But this is the path ahead of me. I am ready for the darkness, and it for me. All I need is you by my side."

She watched him intently, awaiting his response eagerly. He understood what had to be done. Though he had been intent on denying her this path, utterly against her submerging herself in the shadows and taking up a life of crime, he could see her mind was made up. She had a certain edge to her, a determination that others lacked. Perhaps she would fare better than the other lost souls that had fallen prey to Roanapur's allure, but only time would tell. Wolf would protest no more. He would not be her lackey, her pawn to do as she pleased with, but he had grown attached to her and did not wish to see her come to harm. So he would join her in her quest for purpose in the darkness, and he would be there when she called upon him. He bent down on one knee and lowered his head, awaiting her response. Her hand rested on the back of his head, accepting his offer of protection. And so he would watch after her as she built her own criminal empire in the shadows, hoping against hope that she would not be discovered by those who would destroy her. Deep down, he fancied her odds. It wasn't everyone who had their own personal wolf to call upon when things got hairy. He would defend her tooth and nail as she eked out a life for herself, even if he didn't wholly approve of it.