HOORAY IT IS CHAPTER 7 AND IT IS AWESOME! Seriously though, I love this chapter and I hope you all will love it as well. This features many of my own ideas and I have to admit that the majority was made with the spur of the moment. Anyway I do hope you enjoy this and any questions just PM me or if you are a nice person then please review. Also thanks to Fire lord 626 for keeping with my story. (I can tell because he is still reviewing)

Chapter 7

Monsters and Dancing Flames

Road Leading to Butei High

Sunday, September 13th 06:47

A strange roar sounded out across the city. I saw Tatsu pull out one of his guns and point it at the darkness of the alleyways. After a long moment he seemed satisfied and put his gun back into its holster.

"I'm assuming that you know what that sound was?" The only response he gave was to nod his head and move down the street faster. "I agreed to the partnership so that you would answer my questions. Now what was that sound?"

He turned to face me and said, "A beast that does not think, sleep, or tire. All they live for is to pursue and devour, and to serve whatever bastard that called upon them."

As he finished his monologue a high-pitched scream pierced the night. It ended as if cut off, and the people nearby ran straight into the shops and offices. Tatsu, of course, pulled out both of his handguns and set off for the nearest alley and I, not knowing what else to do, followed after him grabbing my rifle as we walked into the alley.

There was nothing in that alley or the next one or even the one after that. As we left the third alley a strong wind blew from the east bringing with it the smell of rotting flesh.

Tatsu glanced at me and started heading in the direction of the smell. I loaded eight rounds into my rifle and hurried after Tatsu.

I felt nauseous as we neared the strange corpse. It looked as if something had decided to make a show/meal of it. It was a gruesome sight, the flesh and muscles were gone but the bones and internal organs remained, in place and untouched.

The same roar sounded throughout the city again, this time much closer. I looked towards the rooftops and saw glowing red eyes though they quickly disappeared.

"Hey, Tatsu. What exactly are we looking for?"

"Demons."

All I could do was stare at him blankly. Surely there wasn't such a thing as demons.

And of course, as I was thinking this, something small and dark fell from the rooftops and landed on top of the skeletal remains. It was a ghastly creature. It had black scales all over its body, gleaming red eyes, and twin tails that resembled spears. But the worst part was its teeth and claws, both were stained red with blood and there seemed to be human flesh stuck to its fangs. It howled again and Tatsu calmly shot it in the head.

It seemed to sort of dissolve. One second the beast was there in front of us and the next second a black mist was floating up towards the sky.

"…What the hell was that?"

Tatsu just quietly put his guns back into their holsters and said, "I forget… where were we going again?"

"Answer my question."

"Can't we go somewhere private?"

"Not until you answer me!"

"Fine…" He kneeled down to the ground where the beast had been and lifted up a small milky white crystal. "That beast was what my people call a Shadow Hound which is subspecies of what we call Shadow Demons. They usually only eat human flesh but will sometimes eat… something else if they can get their claws on it. They are hated by the Dusks and they are usually hunted down and destroyed but the Runic keep them as pets or hunting dogs. So I guess they are being used to hunt Dusks."

"Two questions…"

"Go ahead."

"What is that crystal and again where the hell are you from?"

He held up the crystal and said, "Well the crystal… I don't really know how to explain this but would believe that they taste good?" He tossed the crystal to me and encouraged me to eat it. Hesitantly, I ate the crystal and to my absolute shock it tasted amazing. Like the worlds best candy. "See I told you that they taste good. They are actually a piece of a Shadow Hound or any Shadow Demon really. They're usually imbedded in the demons forehead. Anyway that isn't really all that important."

I grasped him by the shoulders and said, "Are they hard to get?"

"Did you really like it that much?" I nodded my head vigorously. It had been the sweetest thing I'd ever eaten. "Well they're not that hard to get… the hard part is finding a shadow demon. I just can't believe that you liked it so much."

"Now then, what about my other question?"

His face paled and he began to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "I was hoping that you had forgotten."

"Not likely, now I need to know. Those shadow things, I've never even heard of them before, your strange scythe, and Vlad coming back from the dead. None of this should be happening; none of this should even be possible."

Tatsu leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. "I suppose there isn't any avoiding this now is there?"

"No there isn't."

He sighed again. "I thought so. Well I'll start with the scythe. The people from where I come from are born with unique powers. Some are learned, some entrusted, but the majorities are born. The scythe… was from my father. He made this scythe with his born ability of dominance over lightning."

"What do you mean 'dominance over lightning'?" This didn't make any sense yet in a way it kinda did. After all it sort of helps to explain everything else that has been happening to me ever since that rifle had appeared in my room. And then it hit me.

"…Hey Tatsu… do you know anything about this rifle?" I handed him my rifle.

"Actually I know a lot about it. It's called the Flame Maiden. I made it."

"You made it!"

"Yep." He was smiling broadly examining every last inch of the gun. "I'm impressed; you took great care of it."

"Why did you give me this to me even though we've never met before?"

"Well I guess my suspicions were correct… do you really not recognize me Reki?"

"What do you mean? Just who are you?"

Tatsu sighed deeply. "Nine years ago, a man and two boys came to the Ulus tribe's village to speak with your father, the king. That man was my father and boys were my brother and I. Ringing any bells yet?"

"Vaguely… are you trying to tell me that you were in my village when I was seven, and that you were the ones who had that top-secret meeting with my father all those years ago?"

"Sort of… my father was in the meeting, my brother was learning how to snipe, and I was with you."

I remembered completely now. The three of them had appeared from what my father had called the DC. The man had walked up to my father and had greeted him like old friends. The older boy had walked off speaking to our battle trainer. But the younger boy, the one that was supposedly Tatsu, had just stared at me. Both of our fathers had encouraged us to go and play somewhere and he had led me to a small field. He had shown me something that I'm surprised I had forgotten.

"Earlier you spoke about your father's born ability… would yours happen to have anything to do with fire?"

He smiled again and handed me my rifle back. He then held out his hands and I stared in amazement as the flames from my childhood once again danced before my eyes.

Whew… You guys have no idea how hard I worked to ensure that you would get this today. A Halloween chapter! But nothing all that spooky. Anyway I've been busy lately with exams and such…

Anyway also going online today is an aftermath essay I had to write for my English class. It's for Lord of the Flies and deserves an A if do say so myself. But anyway feel free to read it IF you have ALREADY read the book for it does contain massive spoilers.

Please review unfortunately Chapter 8 may take a while but I will tell you that there is a month in between this chapter and the next. So please be patient after all this is my first story.

~T.D.H