After traveling several long miles with Tornado on his back, who constantly cursed him and asked for 'stimulation', Yunsung decided to take a break. He tied Tornado firmly against a tree and gagged her. The tree was beside a large bush, so she was almost completely hidden by it's leaves. He told her that he was leaving to get a drink, and he would be back soon. She made no reply, either unable to or unwilling to co-operate in any way.

They had set up camp in an evergreen forest fairly near a small town, and Yunsung stopped in there to visit the local bar. It felt so good to be walking into a bar again without the added load of Tornado on his back or thoughts of Talim's whereabouts bugging him. He suddenly realized how lonely he'd been since he started the journey- he hadn't had interaction with an intelligent human being for quite a while now. He chatted amicably with the barman as a result, cracking old jokes and laughing- and a surge of pride filled his heart as he did so. He hadn't laughed in ages...

He felt a strange nostalgic feeling as he once again noticed a black-haired woman in peculiar dress in the bar. Her features were much different to Talim's however; her eyes were like that of a Japanese woman, and her face looked more mature and slightly older. Her hair was long and in a ponytail. She wore a white, gold and black outfit; armour plates were on her arms and shoulders, and an elaborately decorated and well fitting martial arts top. Her legs were bare below it until the middle of the thigh, where it joined with long armoured legs and boots. Across her back were two scabbards, and inside, Yunsung knew, were two small blades. She was a ninja.

She was drinking a shot with a very concentrated look on her face. Her small eyes made her look confident. Unexpectedly, she drowned the shot in one, and sat completely still for a few seconds- Yunsung tried this once and nearly burnt his throat. Then she slammed the small glass on the table and commanded the barman, "Another!" she said in a strong, ringing voice.

The barman served her with mild surprise. "So..." said the woman, surveying the barman closely, "There has been no sign of Tornado?"

"No, ma'am." said the barman, who had looked vulnerable under her stare, but couldn't help breaking into a smile, "It's a miracle."

She made a derisive grunt, "The emperor won't believe that." She swirled the green liquid in it's glass, "I'm probably out of a job."

"'Least you're not dead." said the barman.

"I will be if i return empty-handed." the woman snarled, "He wants the shards off her back."Yunsung made an involuntary jolt and choked on his beer- she'd just reminded of him of something he told his dad before he left: I'll rip the sword out of her if I have to!. She turned to him, as if just noticing he was there, "Are you alright?"

"Yes!" Yunsung coughed.

She turned back to the barman, oddly disregarding that Yunsung had been eavesdropping, "I am quite sure, sir, than Tornado has not been killed. Only I have the weapon to destroy the tainted blade."

"You and everyone in this bar!" said the barman, laughing. Yunsung was thinking along the same lines.

Yet the woman smiled in a superior sort of way, "But those are all tales. I have no tales to tell. There was no heroics in what I have done. I have the weapon."

"Oh really?" said the barman, shaking his head, like he'd heard this several times before, "Ok, where is it? Oh wait! You left it at home didn't you?" he barked with laughter, "Or...or maybe you aren't allowed to take it out for a special reason, eh?" he laughed again, however, he stopped when he saw the cold look on the woman's face. He stepped a little closer to her, leaning on the bar counter, "You're really serious, aren't you?"

The woman said nothing. She just reached upwards and took hold of one of the handles in the scabbards on her back. She pulled, and out came a shining, blue blade, of a magnificence Yunsung had never seen. It sparkled against the light, and was smooth, but the edge was visibly sharp.

"Now that is some knife..."said the barman thoughtfully.

"You didn't see anything. Neither did you." she said suddenly, turning to Yunsung, who took a bit of a fright- he hadn't realized he'd been staring so closely and not even bothering to keep his head down during the conversation. He turned back to his beer again quickly. His mind had started racing...this was it! This was how to destroy Soul Edge!...but Yunsung still had to make sure. He took a deep breath, gathered all his nerve, and turned to ask the woman.

"Um, madam..." he said tentatively. She turned her small eyes to him, and he watched them distractedly for a moment as they scanned him, "Well...where'd you get those knives?"

She blinked at him slowly. Then she cleared her throat impatiently, "I have no time for idle chat. I am thinking."

"I'm serious, madam..." Yunsung went on nervously, "Are...are they the only two of those knives you can get?"

"I doubt your blacksmith could carve them, boy." she said, and there was a definitive derogatory tone arising in her voice. It annoyed Yunsung immensely- it was a tone he heard often in front of him- and decided to push straight onto the point.

"You got them in Germany, didn't you?"

The woman swiftly turned her head back to him and took in his details yet again, looking vaguely surprised, "So, you know a little about Soul Calibur, do you?"

"Is that what it's called?"

"Yes." she said shortly, still appearing to have concern over his physical credentials, "Soul Calibur...I found it in Germany, yes. I was lucky to have found it. Strange there was no competition. Like I said, there was no heroics in finding it..." she grunted with irritability, "Only sticking it through Tornado would suffice..."

She appeared to be saying this absentmindedly, as if the words were running from her head straight into her mouth. She cleared her throat again, "However, I sincerely doubt you can help me in that respect..."

"What if I told you where Tornado is?"

Her eyes widened slightly, "I daresay you have me interested. Beware, however, I know a tall tale when I hear it. Go on."

"Right..." Yunsung thought desperately- this was going to take some drastic exchanges of trust, "I've got Tornado. She isn't dead. She's holed up somewhere."

She blinked slowly at him again. "Go on." she repeated.

"I'll only tell you where she is...if you make me some promises..."

She snorted loudly and turned away from him, "I have no money. Go away."

"No, I don't want money." said Yunsung weakly.

"Then what do you want? I have nothing but the clothes I am wearing and my blades. And if you think I'm giving them to you you have another thing coming." she said, her irritability appearing in her voice again.

"No, the only promise I need you to make is that you don't kill her!"

Her head turned yet again, and her face registered it's first sign of true amazement. "Don't kill her?"

"Don't kill her, yes." Yunsung repeated, trying to be calming, "Your emperor wants proof that she's killed, right?"

"Yes." she said. She had his full attention now, turning around in her stool. "I don't see what you are implying..."

"Well...Soul Calibur cuts through Soul Edge, right?"

"Ah, so you know Soul Edge too..."she said thoughtfully, "The answer is yes."

"So...so all you have to so is cut the metal off her body. And there's your evidence."

"It would result in death." she said unblinkingly, "Unless...unless Tornado was given time to recover...and it was done in portions...but I don't understand...why not kill Tornado?"

"Because Tornado...Tornado isn't just Soul Edge!" he said earnestly, "She's a human being!"

"Aren't you godly types all about the 'lesser of two evils'? Surely one dead human is better than thousands of dead humans..."

"No...I'm not godly or anything...It's just that I knew Tornado before she was possessed-"

He fell silent. She had the superior smile on again. "Ah, so I see. So this is for personal reasons, is it? That's a bit selfish isn't it? Risking so many lives to keep just one?"

Now that she mentioned it, it was a bit selfish, and Yunsung felt his head beginning to hang. Maybe he had ought to have killed Tornado...

"Boy...your name?"she asked.

"Yunsung." he said dejectedly.

"Taki." she said curtly, and surprisingly, she pulled his head upwards to look at her. She had a very different look on her face. It was serious, but calm. "Yunsung, what are you doing is not selfish at all, in my opinion. What you are expressing is loyalty. I was merely testing you. Speaking of which, I didn't stop to think that Tornado had any loved ones. Forgive me."

Yunsung didn't register very much of this. "It's alright." he said unsuredly.

Taki drowned her shot at last. She stood up, and nodded her head towards the exit.. "Take me to Tornado. I will not kill her, my friend."